~ Birthday Shaker ~

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog. Well after my marathon kitchen adventure on Tuesday, I am catching up on DT administrative stuff and household chores. And, after this Blog post I am heading off to my craft room for some creative time.

 

We are also taking my middle grandson out to dinner tonight. Just a little celebration before he returns to school for the fall. It seems like we just were starting summer break and now it's back to school time.

 

Our preschool term starts September 9. So I still have 20+ days to get my summer list completed.  It doesn't seem as though I got too far on my list. So I don't know what happened there. maybe not enough effort and concentration applied to get it completed (lol).

 

I can't cry over spilled milk so let's move onto a happy subject with my card for today. this one I created for the color challenge #646 on Splitcoaststampers. Karen was our hostess and she chose powder pink, sweet sugarplums and mint macaron for her color palette.

powder pink, sweet sugarplum, mint macaron

Optional was to use pearls. I used enamel dots because of the type of card I made and its for a little girl so pearls didn't work for me.

 

This was also entered in the DTGD challenges that Splitcoaststampers was running. You have to be a fan club member to participate. Here is the link to the challenge that I entered. Rebecca was the hostess for this one.

 My background sweet sugarplum designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up petal garden collection. I layered that onto sweet sugarplum cardstock and my card base is mint macaron.

The image panel is a birthday die from PTI. I layered a panel of powder pink behind to hold the sequins. Embellished this panel with enamel dots in the sweet sugarplum & mint macaron shades. The twine is sweet sugarplum.

My heart balloon is from the balloons variety die from CottageCutz. Stamped happy birthday in sweet sugarplum and my card is finished. That's it for me for this post. So until next time..........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: island life (MFP)

Paper: mint macaron, sweet sugarplum, very vanilla, petal garden dsp (Stampin'-Up)

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: sweet sugarplum

Accessories: Phrase Play 5 die (PTI), Balloons variety die (CottageCutz), sweet sugarplum twine, enamel dots, foam adhesive strips (Stampin'-Up), sequins (Darice), powder tool (EK Success)  

Techniques: Shaker Card  

 

I am also entering:

1.  Pause Dream Enjoy has a birthday challenge.

2.  Simon Says Stamp has a add a sentiment challenge.

3.  The Crafty Addicts has an anything goes challenge w/option of girly

 

Mr Smore's Christmas

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

Well, it's harvest time here in Pittsburgh. For our vegetable gardens, I mean. Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen and we have had an abundance of zucchini.

 

Yesterday, I spent the day in my kitchen. I made 4 loaves of zucchini bread. I shared 3 of them with my neighbors. They were happy to get a loaf of a homemade sweet bread and that made me happy. If you are interested in a good recipe, here is the one that I used.

 

Then I stuffed two of the zucchini with a sausage (sweet & hot Italian), onion and tomato mixture. These turned out so delicious. The sausage is from a local farm that doesn't use antibiotics or any of the other junk that's in the meats from some of the grocery stores. The tomatoes were also from our garden. We then had dinner with our neighbor who is battling cancer. She loved them as well. Here is a link to that recipe.

 

My next big project will be canning tomatoes. I use the water bath method. It's a lot of work but so worth it when winter comes and I can walk down the basement steps and get a jar to use in a recipe.

 

Now onto my other favorite hobby and that would be card making. This card I made for the color challenge #644 on Splitcoaststampers. I was the hostess and I chose whisper white, cherry cobbler and garden green for my color trio. Optional item was  a Christmas theme.

I used this super cute Mr. Smores die from CottageCutz to create my Christmas card. He is so cute and made for such a happy card for Christmas. I cut in the challenge colors + neutrals of choc chip and baked brown sugar.

My layout is an old MojoMonday Sketch #478. The background designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up "This Christmas Specialty" collection.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set "Vintage Christmas Wishes". Well that's my card for today. So until next time.......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: vintage Christmas wishes (Hero Arts)

Paper: cherry cobbler, garden green, whisper white, very vanilla, choc chip, baked brown sugar, this Christmas specialty dsp (Stampin'-Up)  

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: cherry cobbler, baked brown sugar

Accessories: Mr. Smores, stitched rectangle dies (CottageCutz), circle punches, baked brown sugar & black markers (Stampin'-Up), Blueprints 3 die (MFT) 

 

I am also entering: 

1.  A Snowflakes Promise has an anything goes challenge.

2.  CHNC #346 is anything goes Christmas.

3.  ABC Christmas Challenge - is People, Quick or Red. I used red and I am calling my Mr. Smores -people

 

Miss to Mrs (Bridal Shower Card)

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog on this Saturday in August.

 

Hope you have some fun activities planned for today. As for me it's all about household chores - cleaning and laundry.

I took part in the DGTD Challenges on Splitcoaststampers and was creating cards for lots of days. That was to the neglect of everything else except video calls with my precious granddaughter. So I had lots of fun now its time to bring things back to order. Then tomorrow I can do whatever I want once again.

 

So let's get started with my card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz blog. I have mentioned before that it's wedding season here in Pittsburgh. Before the big day arrives for the bride and groom, first comes the bridal shower. They are always such exciting events to honor the bride.

Since I am invited to a couple of these showers, I thought I would start to create one of the cards to go along with my gift. So lets get started with some details on the dies I am showcasing today.

Step 1: This week I started my card by planning a layout for my card idea. I wanted a more elegant style card but nothing too fussy. This bride will have that elegance reflected in her wedding.
I then selected the dies that would fit what I had in mind. Since it's a bridal shower card, I chose the wedding gown die. And, then to make it all about love, I am using the love tags and sweet love borders dies.

The cardstock I chose is called blushing bride and I matched it up with some patterned paper of the same color. What an appropriate cardstock name for a bridal card.

Blushing Bride card base: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Patterned paper layer: 4 1/8" x 5 3/8"

 

I assembled these panels and then placed aside to complete my die cutting.

Step 2: I made all my cuts on this step. The bridal gown, hanger and bow is cut in a pearlized gold cardstock. The tag and borders are cut in the blushing bride cardstock. I am always so impressed with how smooth the CottageCutz dies cut cardstock.

Step 3: Started adhering the die cut pieces to the patterned panel layer. I didn't add the tag and dress at this point because I wanted to stamp the sentiment first. I wanted to make sure I had the correct placement after the heart borders were attached.

Step 4: I stamped my sentiment in chocolate chip ink. This one works so perfectly for my bridal shower theme.

Step 5: I attached the wedding gown and hanger to the tag with dimensional adhesive. Angled it just a bit, mainly for card interest. I let the left side of the bow drape down on the tag and secured it there. I liked the more free flow look.

Step 6: To finish off my card I scattered some of the pink hearts that were part of the border die. As I looked at the border, I thought it would add a bit more elegance by adding some pearls down each side. I like the look and since the pearls are small it's not too fussy.

Well that's it for me for this post. I hope I have given you an idea for a bridal shower card. There are 20 different wedding designs to spark your creativity. Check them out here.  Until next time........God bless.

 

dies I used to create card:

 

 

Mr & Mrs Wedding card

Hello Blogger Friends and a happy Saturday to you all! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

Another weekend is upon us. Hope you have some fun plans. Today, I am going to the Honda dealer to attend a class covering features of the CRV we just purchased. Nearly everything on the newer cars is programmable which I didn't have on the 2004 model we traded in. They will cover all the features and then answer questions. If time permits they will sit in your card to show you exactly how a feature works.

 

Tomorrow I am attending a baby shower for my niece. I haven't purchased a gift yet so that is on the agenda for today as well. Hopefully, there is something left on her registry.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. So lets get started with some details on the card I am showcasing today.

Step 1: I start my cards each week in several different ways. Today, I started with my card colors. That made it easy because these are the ones the Bride has chosen for her wedding. I looked through my paper stash for colors that matched along with patterned paper. I chose a soft green, a rich espresso brown and peach as my accent colors. I am also using a peach ribbon. I assembled these parts of the card at this point.

Green Card Base: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Espresso Layering Panel: 5 3/8" x 4 1/8"

Patterned Paper Panel: 5 1/4" x 4" 

Step 2: I decided to use the Mr & Mrs with Hearts and frame it with the Nested Stitched Doily dies. I assembled this part of my card and attached to the base panel. I used dimensional adhesive to attach it to card. It adds depth to your card. 

Step 3: I also wanted to finish the inside of my card. I don't usually do this with anything more than a sentiment. The exception is wedding cards.  I like to add other embellies to make it a little more special for the couple. So for this card I used the Rose with wedding rings, Love Phrase.and the  Nested Scallop Rectangle dies.

I adhered the images to the scallop panel. Take notice of the wedding rings that are part of the rose die. The hearts were leftover when I cut the Mr & Mrs phrase.

 Attached the decorated panel to the card inside. The espresso is such a rich shade of brown and complements the green nicely. The bride chose some beautiful colors for her wedding.

I decided to add a bow to the card front. It just seemed a little more complete. I don't have to mail this card so no worries that my bow will get ruined. And this completes my card for this post. I hope I have given you another idea on how to use these new wedding dies. So until next time.........God bless.

Dies I used to create card:

 

 

~Snowflakes Sparkle ~

Hello Blogger Friends! thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

I am slowly getting caught up with life after my son and his family visited last week. I feel as though I am behind on things around my home and also behind in my crafting and Blog posting.

 

Even though time may get away from me for a bit, eventually I always seem to catch up with it. At least that's how it works with me. I make myself a schedule and stick to it until I have my routine back in some semblance of order. I just realized today that I had no plan of attack. So I made a schedule of things I want to accomplish in the next few days. Tasks eliminated always make me feel better.

 

old olive, soft suede, gold

So that being said, let's move onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #643 on Splitcoaststampers. Pam was our hostess and she chose old olive, soft suede and gold for her color trio. Optional this week was Christmas Greenery: Wreaths, Boughs, Trees etc.

I went with the Christmas theme since that was our optional item. My background is the vertical snowfall die from MFT. I cut in whisper white cardstock and then added gold foil paper behind the snow to create sparkly snowflakes. I extended the gold paper for added interest on the card left.

Created snowy hills with a Lawn Fawn die and placed the pine trees on the snow banks. I used chunky glitter on both the hills and trees. Cut my star from the same gold foil paper and added some deer.

Chose this sentiment from PTI to reflect the sparkly gold snowflakes and the glistening trees. And, I have another Christmas card for my stash. Well, that's it for me for this post. So until next time........God bless.

 

Card details:

Stamps: in the meadow (PTI)  

Paper: old olive, soft suede, whisper white (Stampin'-Up), gold foil paper (Recollections)  

Paper Size: A2

Ink: tuxedo black (Memento)

Accessories: snowy tree, snowglobe winter accessories dies (CottageCutz), vertical snowfall die (MFT), Northern Star (Frantic Stamper), stitched hillside dies (Lawn Fawn), chunky glitter (Stampin'-Up)  

 

I am also entering:

1. The Merry Christmas challenge wants us to use animals.

2.  CHNC Challenge Extra is anything goes

3.  The 12 Months of Christmas has an anything goes challenge.

4.  A SnowFlake's Promise has an anything goes challenge.

5.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is anything goes.

6.  Merry Monday Christmas Challenge has a summer link up. I used #247 -non-black silhouettes

 

Wedding Carriage

Hello Blogger Friends and a happy Saturday to you. Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

It's been a week since I posted on my blog but for good reason. My son and his family were in from San Francisco for a visit. We had such great family time and of course my sweet 6 year old granddaughter just touches my heart.

 

Now the hustle and bustle of the visit is over and I enjoy her company via FaceTime on our I-pads. She calls me 3x a day now that she is back home. That will subside once she gets used to being back home and gets into their routine.  It's fun hearing from her though.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz blog. Today, I am featuring the new Wedding Horse & Carriage and the Wedding Bells with Bow dies. So let's get started with some details.

 

I am attending an outdoor wedding in September that will be held at a farm type venue. I have seen the property and rustic elegance would be a perfect description. The ceremony will be held in front of a lake on the property and the bride will make her appearance in a carriage. So the new wedding horse & carriage die was spot-on for my card idea.

Step 1: I like to make wedding cards with the same colors that the bride has chosen. I always think that's a great compliment to her. I am using chocolate, pearlized gold and a copper metallic paper. Found these papers in my stash that are a good match for her wedding colors.

 

Chocolate Card Base: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Pearlized Gold Layer: 5 1/4" x 4 1/8"

Step 2: Embossed the pearlized gold panel with a scrollwork embossing folder. I like the added interest it gave my card.

Step 3:  Cut all the die cuts at this point. The horse & carriage are cut in chocolate,  and the bells and bow are cut in copper. I wanted another layer to my card so I used the largest stitched oval die as a backdrop for the carriage and bow.

Step 4: Decided to add some burlap ribbon to enhance the rustic appeal of my card. Just a strip across the middle of the embossed panel will work fine.  Attached the dies to the oval panel and added a couple of copper hearts.

 

Step 5: Since I had the bells already cut in copper, I used them to finish the inside of my card. Added another layer of the pearlized gold cardstock, more hearts and the celebrate phrase completed the inside. The hearts are part of the new Mr & Mrs with hearts die.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.

 

dies I used to create card:

 

 I am also entering:

1.  Just Us Girls has a something old/something new challenge. I used new dies, old burlap ribbon, old embossing folder and old pearlized paper.

2.  Brown Sugar has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Simply Create Too has a Wedding challenge.