happy christmas

happy tuesday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today.

we are having some great fall weather in pittsburgh. lots of sunshine and warm afternoon temps. I am enjoying it while its here. we don't get a lot of sunny days in the winter.

this coming week-end we make the time change back to standard time so it will be getting dark just a little after 6:00.

so enough weather and long winter nights talk and onto my card for today.

Splitcoaststampers had the clean & simple challenge today. we were to use brads or eyelets.

this card is made with the wandering words stamp set and stamped with night of navy.

the snowflake image was done with gold shimmer paint applied right to the stamp. the brad covers the monday challenge

the entire card is sprayed with the shimmer paint.

this new stamp set has a thanksgiving sentiment and one for valentines day. it's in the stampin-up holiday mini catalog.

I have a great stampin-up demo so if you are looking to buy anything, let me know and I will put her in contact with you. she doesn't have a blog.

that's all for today. thanks for coming by to look. if you would like an email directly to your inbox when I post, subscribe to my blog. it's free!!

card recipe:

stamps: wandering words

paper: su night of navy, vanilla, gold

ink: night of navy

accessories, shimmer paint, brad, circle punch

names of jesus

happy monday to you and thanks for visiting the charmed life blog.

I hope the start of your week will be a good one.

yesterday was such a beautiful, sunny day. my grandson won his football game 30-6, and our steelers beat the vikings.

we are hiring a new bookkeeper at church and I will be there to oversee her training on monday and tuesday. there are lots of changes taking place now that we are in our new building.

we have a large coffee bar and have named it "cafe fusion". we will be serving all the speciality coffee drinks. i have volunteered to work for special events.

we had a jazz nite on saturday. these musicians are so talented. two of the guys are from our church and the other 2 were visitors who came to play. they flowed so well together.

we plan on having the jazz nights every month.

anyhow, onto my card for the day.

this is the 5th and final card I created for the verve challenge.

i had this stamp with the names of jesus in the shape of a tree for several years. I just never used it.

how often do we all do that.

this striped dsp is from my stash and i was just waiting for the right image to use it as well.

the star on top has gold stickles on it.

well that's it for today. come by anytime-this blog is open 24-7 (lol)

card recipe:

stamp: morning star

ink: memento rich cocoa

paper: su beige, gold, printworks striped holly dsp

accessories: ribbon, stickles

time to bloom

happy sunday to you and thanks for taking time out to visit the charmed life blog.

this is typically our family day after attending church.

today, our middle grandson, aidin, has his last football game.

it's a big rivalry game and they call it the autumn bowl. he is only 10 but the games are still fun.

we love going to all the boys sporting events.

His older brother austin (12) went hunting with his dad for the first time on saturday. I just thought it would a good time of bonding between my son and grandson.

but, early saturday afternoon, austin sent me a text message and photo with the deer he bagged. he was so excited and so was I.

In case you can't tell, I am a proud grandma. those 3 little boys are a real blessing in my life.

so onto my card for today. I am posting the 4th card I made for the verve challenge.

The winners were announced friday night and I wasnt one of them.

But, there is always next month. plus, i had fun putting the cards together.

It gets your creative juices flowing (lol).

for this card, i inked up a brand new set from stampin-up-bella's bloom.

I paired it with basic grey indian summer designer paper.

it matches so well with the new in-colors.

i used rich razzleberry cardstock & ribbon on this card.

my shape is cut with spellbinders die-labels 2.

I added a ribbon tab in the corner along with a heart button and that is my card.

thanks for dropping by. if you like what you see here, you can subscribe to my blog and get an email every time I post a card. There will be no spam.

card recipe:

stamps: bella's bloom

ink: rich razzleberry, old olive

paper: su ww, rich razzleberry, indian summer dsp

accessories: nesties, ribbon, button

let it snow

happy friday to you and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.

it was a rainy day here in pittsburgh but still nicely warm.

we have a family function tonight which should be a lot of fun. It's my husband's nephew birthday.

I will give him a card from my stash since I didn't have the time to make something specifically for him.

but, the card i am giving him is cute-here's a link to my splitcoast gallery to take a look at it.

today, i am showing the 3rd card I made for the verve challenge.

I used this cute snowman from stampendous. his hat is colored with prismas & gamsol. the blue paper is designer paper called ski slope from stampin-up. it reminded me of snow falling. I added a felt snowflake and some gliiter to the puffy paint so it would look like sparkly snow.

the cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder always does such a great job on cards.

well thats my post for today. don't forget to leave me a comment, I like hearing from all of you.

and, if you have a prayer request, send me an email and i will be happy to pray for you.

card recipe:

stamps: stampendous, tiny talk

paper: su baja blue, gina k white, ski slope dsp

ink: memento tuxedo black

accessories: ribbon, rhinestones, felt flurry, puffy paint, glitter,prismas & gamsol

give thanks

happy thursday to you and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.

it was such a beautiful, sunny day here in pittsburgh.

I started my day with the prayer team at church. I just love being a part of this group. we meet on thursday mornings.

today our prayer focus was on our worship team.

we have been gifted with a great group of musicians and our singer is such a "songbird".

courtney has an incredible voice. they bring us such great worship music every sunday. if any of you read this post, I am saying thanks in writing,

anyhow, onto my card for today. as i mentioned yesterday, my cards this week are for the verve challenge .

I decided to make another thanksgiving card with the sketch that julee tilman from verve provided.

I used a cuttlebug embossing folder and the pumpkin stamp is from great impressions. I am practicing coloring with the prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

I cut them out and popped them up with 3d dots for some dimension.

my ribbon is something that i saved from my nieces wedding shower last year. i thought it fit so well with my paper.

the scripture sentiment is from verve.

well, it's a wrap for another day. remember to leave me a comment, i love hearing from you.

card recipe:

stamps: verve, great impressions

paper: bazzill

ink: memento rich cocoa

accessories: prismas & gamsol, ribbon, cb ef

glory to God

happy wednesday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today. it was another beautiful, fall day here in pittsburgh.

i went to a cooking class at a local store that is both a kitchenware store and cooking school. they are the premier cooking school in western pa.

it was my 2nd class this month. they call it "lunch & learn". catchy name and basically they prepare a meal step by step in their demonstration kitchen while you observe.

they also offer hands-on classes where you get to prepare the meal and then eat it.

i actually prefer the observation classes. i am a fairly good cook, and i attend these classes to learn new techniques and enjoy really good food.

we had a chicken fricassee-parmentier & vegetable croquettes-chocolate amaretto layer cake. everything was so good. I have the recipes and this will be our dinner tomorrow-minus the cake.

I learned a new term today-parmentier-which means potato. they boiled yukon gold potatoes and put them through a ricer for our croquettes.

it's a lot of fun and something I would recommend to anyone who likes to cook. or even if you don't-its a way to learn.

now, onto my card for today.

verve stamps will be releasing 7 new stamps this friday night. when they do they usually have a challenge the week leading up to release. this is my 2nd time participating. so i will have to make 5 cards and have them posted by friday at 6:00.

i have 3 done so far. julee tilman, the owner of verve provides the card layout and you do the designing.

for my 1st card, i decided to go with a christmas card.

i used one of my older stamp sets and an idea I have had in my head for awhile. today, my idea came to life.

everytime i would look at this angel, I would think of a card with sheet music and the words "glory to god in the highest"-its the scripture from luke 2:13-which is part of the christmas story.

i bought the designer paper -christmas music by penny black-a couple of years ago. i said this was an old idea of mine.

i colored my angel with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

the stampin sisters in christ challenge this week was to make a religious card about Christ's birth.

that's it for today-thanks for coming by. stop again tomorrow and I will have my 2nd card for the verve challenge.

card recipe:

stamps: brushstroke angel

paper: bazzill ivy and crimson, penny black dp

ink: memento tuxedo black

accessories: prismas & gamsol, circle & scallop punches, k & co poinsietta

cas sympathy card

happy monday to all the visitors to the charmed life blog. it was a beautiful, sunny, fall day here in pittsburgh.

we had a killer frost overnight and now all the zinnias are gone. I cut about 10 flowers sunday afternoon which was a good thing. I have them in a vase to enjoy for the next several days anyway.

my husband was busy turning over the flower beds to plant his tulips for next year. he does such a beautiful job with our yard and I get to enjoy all the flowers.

tonight, we met with the young couple that we are mentoring.

we had dinner together and I prepared 2 new dishes. the main dish was one that rachael ray prepared on her 30 min meal show-spicy sausage meatloaf patties with italian barbecue sauce. If you have ever made one of her recipes, you know its a culinary delight.

the barbecue sauce was made with pancetta-garlic-onions-wine-beef stock-diced tomatoes-worcestershire and hot sauce. my side dish was a butternut squash risotto and that recipe was pulled from a magazine. I just don't know which one

I was very pleased, as were my guests, on how the dinner turned out. I am notorious for making new dishes when guests are coming.

I have both recipes if anyone would a copy let me know, I can email them to you.

now onto my card for today.

on monday's over at splitcoaststampers, they have the clean and simple challenge . this week we were to make a sympathy card.

I used a new stamp set from stampin-up called "kind & caring thoughts". my sentiment is from rubber cottage and I finished it off with a corner embellishment. I used the cuttlebug vintage die to create the corner.

thats it for today. thanks for taking the time to stop.

card recipe:

stamps: kind & caring thoughts

ink: printworks black

paper: su white & black

accessories: cb vintage die

IC202 daisywheels

happy saturday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today. we started off our day with a visit from a large hawk. he was perched on the railing of our deck eating breakfast. I couldn't tell exactly but I am guessing it was a rabbit or a squirrel.

he was so big and so beautiful. i was totally amazed at his wing span when he decided to leave. fortunately for us, he took his prey with him.

it was rainy and chilly, but our youngest grandson had a football game this morning and we sat through it. they won and next week start playoffs. his little hands were so red and cold after the game. my daughter-in-law said he could soak in a warm tub when he got home.

well enough chatter-onto my card.
on saturdays, splitcoast stampers has the inspiration challenge. this week we visited the website of xenia talor. she hand decorates and paints tiles.

there were so many beautiful ones to choose from for inspiration.

but, as soon as I saw this one , I knew I found my inspiration.
it looked just like a die-cut flower that I had from a stampin-up scrappin' kit.

my layout was from the saturday crazy 4 challenges blog. so this card came together quickly for me.

that's it for today. I leave you today with the words from psalm 90:2

"before the mountains were born,

before you gave birth to the earth and the world,

from beginning to end,

you are God".

card recipe:

stamps: wow flowers

paper: more mustard, ginak k white, autumn vine designer paper

accessories: ribbon, die-cuts, brads

season of joy #2

happy friday to you and thanks for taking the time to drop by the charmed life blog.

it is a rainy, cold day here in pittsburgh. just perfect for staying indoors with a hot cup of coffee or chocolate. i just bought some pumpkin spice coffee cream so the coffee is sounding real good right now.

I was planning on going to my grandson's soccer game this evening but the rain and cold turned me away. our youngest grandson has a football game tomorrow morning so I hope the weather is a little different. sitting in the rain when it's cold is not my favorite thing to do.

well, onto my card for today. I had our stamp club meeting at my home recently. when you are the hostess you are also responsible for designing the 3 cards that we make.

I decided to case (copy and share everything) myself. I made this card a few weeks ago and thought the girls would like it as well. I changed the papers, ribbon and added a 2nd stamp from the season of joy set. they were very happy with this card and one of them is using it for her christmas card.

I really like this satin chocolate ribbon. I bought it on clearance from stampin-up. buying supplies on sale makes my hubby happy. he will be reading this since he is subscribed by email to my blog.

that's it for another day, my friends. remember to leave me a comment. i really like hearing from all of you and i read every one.

if you are visiting my blog and you would like me to pray for you, please send me an email.

the book of psalms states: the LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

card recipe:

stamps: season of joy

paper: su choc chip, real red, vv, merry moments dsp

ink: choc chip

accessories: satin ribbon, circle punches, cb folder, red stickles

sc250 give thanks

happy thursday and a warm welcome to the charmed life blog on a rainy, fall day.

I completed most of the to-do list that I mentioned yesterday and early evening I was free to create a card.

I had 3 challenges that I definitely wanted to be a part of:

1. crazy 4 challenges


2. the scs sketch challenge


3. the scs ways to use it challenge

interesting, how they tied together for me. the sketch challenge gave me my layout-a big plus. the crazy for challenges gave me my theme-create a thanksgiving card. and, the ways to use it gave me my designer paper-use leaves on your creation.
sooo, today i received a new stampin-up order that included some fab new rub-ons with a thanksgiving autumn theme. the autumn traditions designer paper was already in my stash and it had leaves on some of the paper. oh, i am so ready to complete my card.
no stamping on this one-rub-ons are so great. i added some leaf and acorn buttons and i have another thanksgiving card ready to go.
thanks for stopping by and remember to leave me a comment. i really like hearing from all of you.
also, if you have any prayer requests drop me an email.
remember the words of 2 samuel 7:22- o sovereign LORD! there is no one like you, and there is no God but you

sscc8 it's a boy

wednesday greetings to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today. it was a busy day in my household. lots on the to-do list and I accomplished some but not all.

I mentioned in a previous post that our church just moved into a new building and we are finding that there is still lots of things that need attending to.

Our prayer group meets tomorrow morning and then after that I will have to finish my list. I hope I find a little time to stamp.

The card I am showing today is for the stampin sisters in christ challenge.

We were to make a baby card or project, or a card for an expectant mother (or expectant parents)...

this card is a total case of this one. I did make some changes to the card to make it my own. I didn't have the nursery necessities stamp set so I made my little boat from punches. My sentiment is from a verve stamp set and I also added a border with the martha stewart zig zag punch.

well, my friends that's it from me for today. thanks for stopping by and remember to leave me a comment. I do like hearing from all of you.

if there is anything you would like prayer for, drop me an email. i believe that God is attentive to our prayers, and i would be honored to pray for you.

card recipe:

stamps:verve-practically perfect

ink: memento rich cocoa

paper: su white, bashful blue, so saffron, delicate dots dsp

accessories: nestabilities, round & square punches, celery ribbon, ms zigzag punch

mtsc43 christmas ornaments

happy tuesday to all who are visiting my blog today. it was a sunny, cool day here in pittsburgh. we are expecting frost tonite though.

my flowers will be done and some of my herbs as well. i harvested most of my greek oregano yesterday and hung it to dry. the basil i turned into pesto and its in the freezer.

also, cut my gomphrenas and hung those to dry. they are like a straw flower and retain their gorgeous purple color even after they dry. I use them as adornments on gifts. makes me laugh to see women smell them.

so onto my card for the day. I used mercy kerin's tuesday sketch challenge for the layout. she always has such great layouts for us to use. thanks mercy!!

I made another card from the stampin up simply scrappin holiday jingle kit. I so love this kit. I have made 4 cards from it so far. It's an easy way to get christmas cards finished in a flash. it is definitely worth the $19.95 that I paid for it. I will post the other cards later.

thanks for dropping by and remember to leave me a comment. I really like hearing from all of you.

mojo108 year of blessing

happy monday to all my blog visitors.

we are celebrating columbus day 2009. the u.s. has celebrated this day since the colonial period but it didn't actually become a federal holiday until 1934.

in 1892, president benjamin harrison called upon the people of the u.s. to celebrate columbus day on the 400th anniversary of the event.

during the 400-year anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used columbus day rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These patriotic rituals were framed around themes such as the importance of loyalty to the nation.

it has now become a controversial day with columbus being condemened in political disputes.

I honor a man who had a dream to spread the faith of Christ throughout the globe and the courage to make that dream a reality.

now onto my card for the day. the mojomonday blog provided a sketch to kickstart my mojo.

it was such a fun sketch. it gave me a chance to ink up my new verve stamps and use this gorgeous heidi grace paper that i found at joann's.

I was surprised to see that it matched so well with stampin-up bravo burgundy and soft suede. and, i only bought 2 sheets-oh well, i guess that calls for another trip (lol).

the flower on the card was cut from the designer paper and popped up on dimensionals.

my ribbon treatment was something that i recycled from who knows where but i liked it with this paper.

well, that's it for today. thanks again for stopping and remember to leave me a comment. I like hearing from all of you.

card recipe:

stamps: verve-wishing you

paper: su bravo burgundy, soft suede, vv, autumn traditions dsp, harvest row dsp

ink: bravo burgundy

accessories: ribbon

IC201 dandelion sympathy

happy saturday to all who are visiting my blog today. If this is your first time-welcome and I hope you will become a regular visitor. if you like what you see sign up for email updates. that way my posts will be delivered right to your inbox.

it was such a beautiful day here in pittsburgh-cool but sunny. the trees are beginning their awesome display of autumn color. next week-end they should be at their peak of beauty.

on saturday i so enjoy taking part in the inspiration challenge over at splitcoaststampers. we always have the best internet sites to go to for inspiration in our card making.

today, we visited an etsy store "tzaddishop".
after looking around i chose this dandelion necklace as my inspiration piece.


i decided to make a sympathy card and the layout i used on it is from mercy kerin's tuesday challenge.

i kept it fairly simple because that's how i think sympathy cards should be. my card is sprayed with glimmer mist to replicate the dusting of gold on the necklace.
that's my post for today-thanks again for stopping. remember to leave me a comment. i read them all and really like hearing from everyone.

card recipe:
stamps: great impressions, rubber cottage
paper: stampin-up choc chip, kraft, kraft designer paper
ink: choc chip
accessories: glimmer mist, inque boutique brads, oval punches, nesties

happy fall

happy friday to you and thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my latest creation.

this was a special day for my husband & I. our youngest grandson came to stay overnight. he loves doing that as part of his birthday present. he gets to come without his brothers for some individual time with us.

we took him to the local high school football game. it was raining fairly heavy for awhile-oh the things you do for those grandkids!! our team won so that made the soaking we got worthwhile.

now onto my card!! I made this card for the friday challenge over at splitcoaststampers. we were to do a fall-themed card. the focal point of our creation was to be something stamped.

I love this little scarecrow from an old stamp set called "happy fall y'all". I stamped , embossed and then colored him with markers. I used 3-d dots to raise him up a little. the card layout is the sketch from wednesday's challenge at splitcoast.

the cuttlebug folder with all the autumn words fit so well here.

the leaves are buttons i found in my stash.

that's it for today, my friends. Oh, remember to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you.

card recipe:

stamps: stampin-up happy fall y'all

paper: choc chip, vv, more mustard, autumn vine dsp, gina k white

ink: choc chip

accessories: cb ef, buttons oval punch, markers

christmas medallion

thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today. it is a rainy, fall day here in pittsburgh.

but, the good news is I still have flowers blooming and my tomato plants are still producing.
my herb garden is also going strong. I have dried the oregano and made pesto from my basil. I will be enjoying this into the winter months.

now, let me share a little about what I have created today.

I just bought these stampin up felt snowflakes that were on clearance recently and decided to use them on a scalloped edge medallion card.
My designer paper is from the merry moments pack.
I used the cuttlebug snowflakes folder for my layering piece. The joy sentiment completed the card.
thanks for stopping by to take a peek and don't forget to leave me a comment. I like hearing form you.

card recipe:
stamps: a-muse
paper: gina k white, stampin-up garden green, red riding hood, merry moments dsp
ink: ruby red
accessories: stampin up small flurries, ribbon, cb embossing folder

trees of the forest

hello and thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today. it's been a week since I have posted and I have missed blogging and creating.

our church purchased a new building several months and this past sunday was our inaugural service in the new building.
since my husband and I are in the leadership of the church, needless to say we had a very busy week. there were lots of last minute details that needed attending.
everything went smoothly on sunday and for that we thank the Lord.

now, onto what i have created for this week's stampin sisters in christ challenge #7.
kristine breach is our hostess this week and her theme is about praise and rejoicing.
her card challenge is to show the "earth rejoicing"... flowers blooming, oceans roaring, trees bursting with fruit, mountains and hills 'clapping'... whatever comes to mind for you as long as your card or project shows the earth rejoicing.

my card does just that. I started off with designer paper from graphic 45 with the appropriate name of eden symphony. I used stampin-up rub-ons for my trees and computer generated my scripture from psalm 96:12. the layout for my card is sketch challenge 235 from splitcoaststampers.

thanks for dropping by today and remember to leave me a comment.
I love hearing from all of you.