happy new year

Happy thursday and new years eve to all who are visiting the charmed life blog. I know we all say it over and over but I really can't believe how quickly this year has passed.

Tonight we are going to our son's home to celebrate my husband's birthday (dec 28) as well as have a small family new years eve party.

There will be a fire going in the fireplace, and we have a sleepover as well.

Its just such a great night, and we all look forward to it.

My card for today celebrates the new year. I want to send this out to someone that I missed sending a Christmas card to.

My layout is from Wednesday's sketch challenge on splitcoaststampers. This was such a great sketch for this card.

Also, the challenge on the stampin sisters in christ blog was to make a new years card. The comment there was: as we begin the new year, let all of our resolutions include asking God to teach us and lead us on the path He has laid for us.

My card uses this cute embossed sticker I had from Mary Engelbreit. I really liked the saying on the sticker. It reads "and now let us welcome the new year-full of things that have have never been". I thought it was just perfect for what the sscc theme is for the week. I picked it up in Michael's $1 bin last year.

If you click on the picture it will bring it in closer and larger.

My designer paper is from su's Christmas cocoa speciality pack. I used some old stampin-up rub-ons for the sentiment and the stars and that's my card. No stamping on this card, but I like how it turned out.

Well, its a wrap for today. Happy New Year blessings to all who are reading this blog post.

birthday wishes

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Wow, it's been a week since I posted a card.

But, with Christmas and my son being home to visit there was just no time.

We had a wonderful celebration. Christmas Eve my in-laws came for dinner. My brother-in-law is so complimentary. He loved the food and all the cookies. He was in such a festive mood and he made the evening fun for all of us.

Christmas Day was our family celebration with my sons-daughter-in-law and grandsons. It was just the perfect time together. We bought our oldest grandson a plug & play tv game-called big buck hunter. We all end up playing and having so much fun with it. My son even spent some of the next day playing with it as well. It's one of those games you can play in an arcade at the beach or amusement park.

My extended family is having a Christmas party this coming Saturday which will be enjoyable.

So onto my card for the day. I made this for the color challenge on splitcoaststampers and used the layout from the mojomonday challenge.

The colors were really put of the box for me. But, after the card was finished I was happy with the results. We were to use basic gray, dusty durango, barely banana and a neutral of our choice.

I had some stampin-up designer paper (urban garden) that is basic grey but trying to pair that with the dusty durango was my challenge.

I decided to use some dusty durango ribbon and I had these flowers from Michael's brides collection and colored them with gray and dusty durango markers.

I made it a birthday card and used a Verve stamp set I have. I just love the fonts on this set. In fact all of the verve fonts are just so pretty.

I have a lot of January birthdays in my family. So this will be for one of my nieces.

Well, its a wrap for today. Hope you have fun with whatever you are doing for the New Years celebration. We will spend the night over at my sons. Our grandsons love it when we sleep over and so do we!!

card recipe:

stamps: verve wishing you

paper: su basic grey, dusty durango, barely banana, vv, urban garden dsp

ink: memento london fog

accessories: nesties, su ribbon, michael's brides table confetti

dasher christmas card

Happy Tuesday everyone and thanks for thaking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Can you believe that it is ony 3 days till christmas?

I went to my grandsons school today for a grandparents day. They had a light breakfast for us after the service. It was very nice. And the 3rd grade (Ethan's class) sang a special song for the grandparents. He was happy that I was able to attend and so was I.

After that I put my game face on and went christmas shoppping. Oh yes, I am finished finally. I am in the midst of wrapping now. My husband thinks it should take me about 3 minutes per package.

He knows I do special wraps on each gift. So 3 minutes is not even in the ball park. I had to take a break from it so I decided to post my card.

My card today is one of the many that I sent out for Christmas. I only made 2 of this one though. All the elements of the card were part of the Christmas jingle kit from stampin up. I know I have said it before but I really liked this kit. I guess its only available until the new catalog comes out. So if you want a way to make some great Christmas cards, pick it up for next year. I saw this card on Nancy Riley's blog and made some changes to make it my own. Thank you Nancy for the inspiration.

Well, its a wrap for today my friends. I hope your pre-Christmas preparations are going well.

card recipe:

paper: su old olive, choc chip, su dsp

accessories: su christmas jingle kit, old olive ribbon, circle nesties

Artful Inkables featured stamper

Happy Sunday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.

What a wonderful day I had.

It started off at church. Our kids had a program today and to say it was wonderful would be an understatement.

They all worked so hard and everyone remembered all their lines.

The ones that played Mary, Joseph and the wise men were our pre-schoolers. I wish you could have seen how cute they were.

Then, I went to my cookie exchange. It was canceled yesterday because we had about 6" of snow. But, the road crews were busy plowing and salting and today it was fine. I have a nice variety of cookies now to serve on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Then, my big news for the day is that I was the featured stamper over on the artful inkables blog.

I made this card for my friend's wedding in the springtime. She even placed it in her wedding scrapbook. So she will be thrilled to hear this news as well.

One of the design team from the company contacted me because she noticed the card on splitcoaststampers. She asked me if they could show the card on the company blog. They were going to be featuring some customer cards during the month of December.

I was so honored and of course I said yes.

So today was my day. The above link will take you right to the blog.

I really like the stamp set that I purchased from them. It's called wedding silhouettes. I just loved all the possibilities for cards.

Well, its a wrap for another day my friends. I pray the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you.

merry & bright

Happy Saturday and thanks for visiting the charmed life blog. It is quite a snowy day here in Pittsburgh as well as on the eastern part of the U.S. We have about 5" of snow right now in my area.

I didn't get to go to my cookie exchange today. But, we rescheduled for tomorrow after church.

So I managed to get a few things accomplished here. I picked up a few more Christmas gifts. I still need to wrap everything.

The mall is only 4 minutes from my home and our township really takes care of the roads well. So after the plow and salt truck came around I ventured out.

I have more to do here so after this post its back to work for me.

My card today is for 3 challenges. I haven't had the time to do many challenges lately but today I squeezed this card in. It was simple and quick.

The our creative corner blog challenge for this week is to create a winter themed card featuring snow or snowflakes.

Then, sharon johnson has a challenge to use anything on your card that says snow. Sharon has the no stamp to stamp blog.

My 3rd challenge is the stampin sisters in christ challenge to use bling on the card.

So as you can see my card has snowflakes and bling.

I used stampin-up real red and whisper white cardstock. For the snow requirement I had a chipboard snowflake from K&Co with bling added.

I also used the cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and some stampin-up snowflake rub-ons.

I added white ribbon and used the ms lace doily border punch and that's my card.

Well, my friends it's a wrap for another day from charmed life land.

I close with this blessing for you: I pray the Lord bless all the work of your hands this week-end.

card recipe:

paper: real red, whisper white

accessories: k&co chipboard, su rub-ons, cb ef, white ribbon

acetate christmas card

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Well, I can say I am very pleased with my progress on completing my tasks for Christmas.

Today, I put on the Christmas music and baked all day. I just felt very peaceful. So if you prayed for me, I am sending a big thank you!!

I made 20 doz of mini-lady locks. I am part of a cookie exchange that is happening tomorrow. I only need 5 doz for the exchange though.

Hopefully, driving will be ok. We are under a winter storm watch. It has already started to snow as I am writing this post.

I had planned to finish my shopping tomorrow after the exchange. It's super Saturday. This day is as big as black Friday according to the media. But, the snow could change my plans.

My card for today is one that I made for the limited supplies challenge over at splitcoaststampers. We were challenged to make some sort of holiday decoration and it had to be silver and/or gold.

I wanted to try my hand at an acetate card. I have seen so many beautiful ones on the blogs and in gallery at splitcoast. I needed another Christmas card-do you believe it!!

I made 52 and it wasn't enough.

I used stampin-up icicle rub-ons for the snowflakes and the sentiment.

My ornament was cut from the cricut machine. I don't have one, but I was over at my friend Deb's home recently and she does. She cut me a bunch of different ornament shapes.

I also used the upper crest border punch and some white ribbon and that's my card.

Well, its time to wrap it up from charmed life land for today. I pray a blessing of peace for all who are reading today's post.

card recipe:

paper: acetate, su silver, paper company cool metallics

accessories: su rub-ons icicle, fiskars upper crest border punch, ribbon, cricut

Dec 25

Happy Thursday and welcome to the charmed life blog. Today was another one of those crazy days.

We were having some computer issues and fortunately we have a friend who handles it for us.

But, it was 4 hrs today and 3 hrs on Tuesday to get the problems corrected.

So needless to say, I didn't accomplish all that I wanted to with my Christmas preparations, but I made headway.

All of my cards are written and addressed and half of them are mailed. Can I hear a big whoo hoo!!

Last night after posting, I ordered a few more gifts online and it was free shipping on some and they all will be here in the next several days.

Tonight I went shopping around 9:00 and picked up a few more gifts. So, can I hear another whoo hoo!! I am almost finished with my shopping. Lol-it's only 8 days until Christmas.

Tomorrow, I will be baking all day since I am in a cookie exchange on Saturday. I am making mini lady-locks. This cookie is my Christmas speciality. I make 20 dozen and give about 3/4 of them away as gifts. My friends and family wait anxiously for this cookie.

I am feeling better and somewhat less stressed about getting the things done that I need to.

So now onto my card for today. I found another challenge group recently. Its the pals paper arts blog . This week their theme was to create a holiday or winter themed card. So I say what is more holiday than dec 25.

This is another one of my Christmas cards. I used the stampin-up Christmas jingle kit to create this card. I have said it before but this kit has a big wow factor.

I saw this card by Nancy Riley and I knew I was going to make it as one of my Christmas cards.

I used old olive and very vanilla paper, real red ribbon and a red nailhead. But everything else is from the kit.

Well, its a wrap for another day my friends. I am still waiting to hear how all of you are handling the busyness of the Christmas season. It's important to encourage one another.

victorian christmas stocking

Happy Wednesday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today. Only 9 more days until Christmas. Are you ready?

Today, I went to my friends, and we made chocolate candy. It was fun spending time with Holly and chit-chatting, while we covered pretzels and oreos in chocolate, made coconut & peanut clusters and peanut butter filled ritz crackers.

I used about 6# of milk chocolate. Of course, I sampled some along the way. It was yummy!!

So today was a busy but productive day.

My grandsons will be very happy with the chocolate covered oreos. I will make each of them a box filled with the chocolate goodies.

Now onto my card for today. This is another one of my Christmas cards. I finished my cards on Sunday and will be posting them for the next several days. So make sure you stop back or you can sign up for a free email subscription to my blog. It will be delivered right to your inbox. That way you won't miss any of my posts.

My card is for the challenge over on the crazy for challenge blog. The theme this week is to add a snowflake or snowman to your card. So I decided on my layout to add a stampin-up felt flurrie to one of the circles on my card.

My Victorian stocking is a rub-on. I had it in my stash. I bought it from Michael's a few years ago.

The layout I used was an old sketch that Verve put out for their August anniversary. I made this card for that challenge. I liked it so much I decided to make another but this time I added a snowflake for the current challenge.

Well, its a wrap for today my friends. Let me know how you are doing with your Christmas cards, shopping or decorating.

card recipe:

paper: su real red, ww, old olive, dashing dsp

accessories: su scallop & circle punches, su ribbon and felt flurries, victorian rub-ons (unknown),

penguin medallion

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.

Life has been so crazy and busy for me. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

So I wonder why I stress and never have enough time to complete what I want to for Christmas.

My husband was trying to put things in perspective for me tonight. So I feel a little better. I have to really plan and organize the next 3-4 days.

I just finished my Christmas cards but they are not mailed as yet. That will happen on Thursday.

Tomorrow, I am going to a friend's home to make candy. We plan on making chocolate covered oreos and pretzels. Then, I take some ritz crackers and make a peanut butter sandwich and cover it with chocolate. They are so yummy!! And, one of my favorites, cashew clusters.

We did this last year and my family loved all of it, especially my grandsons. They really liked the chocolate covered oreos.

So onto my card for today. I have been creating but have had no time to photo and post on my blog. Today, I made the time!!

This cute little penguin is sitting atop a scalloped edge medallion. Here is the tutorial from splitcoaststampers on how to make this medallion. I used some new designer paper from dcwv that a friend bought for me. I thought it worked well with some old stampin-up cardstock-wild wasabi.

The penguin is a die-cut from darcie's stamps. She actually calls them u-cuts since you have to cut them out. I purchased these at a rubber stamp show this past summer. I think they are super cute.

Well, its a wrap for another day. I send a blessing of peace to all who are reading my blog. I know I need it as well.

card recipe:

paper: su wild wasabi,vv, bazzill crimson, dcwv holiday collection

accessories: su scallop border punch,

winter wishes

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. I didn't go over to take care of my grandsons after school today. My son made some other plans. So it gave me a day to decorate and do some stamping.

My card today is for the contest being held over on the mojomonday blog. Julee supplied another great sketch to work with. Also, back in October she gave a free digi-image. It was the mittens and the winter wishes words. I decided to use them on this card.

I wanted it to be a birthday card for my sister, but then I used the cuttlebug embossing folder with these Christmas words. I know that people who have a December birthday don't like getting Christmas themed cards. They just like celebrating their birthday. My husband is one of them. So the fate of this card is yet to be determined (lol).

I used stampin-up always artichoke, rich razzleberry, pink pirouette and basic grey eskimo kisses designer paper.

I cuttlebugged the pink pirouette circles and for the mittens I paper pieced them with the designer paper. On the mitten cuffs, I added a little flower soft to give the appearance of fur.

I used a new tool to make my bow. It's called a bow easy. It makes tying bows super easy. gina k has a great video tutorial on how to use it.

Well, that's it for today my friends. Before I close I have a prayer request for all who are reading this post. A good friend of mine just had some horrible news today. Her nephew was found dead in his apartment. Please pray for the family during this time of grief.

card recipe:

stamps: verve digi image

paper: su rich razzleberry, always artichoke, pink pirouette, eskimo kisses dsp

accessories: polar white flowersoft, nesties, cb ef, su ribbon, rhinestones

christmas in the heart

Happy Monday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog today. The day really seemed to get away from me and I didn't accomplish all that I wanted to.

I need to finish my Christmas cards and get them addressed and mailed. My goal is to work diligently on them tomorrow before I head out to my son's to meet the boys school bus.

On another note. I added 5 new blog buttons. I had them designed by Leelou-the woman who designed the blog template. The new buttons are "about me, blog archive, my splitcoaststampers gallery, email me, labels".

What do you think?

So for today's post I am showing one of my Christmas cards. What else this time of year, you may be thinking.

I bought these super cute die cuts at a rubber stamp show that I went to this summer here in Pittsburgh. The penguin and the christmas tree are the die-cuts. The sentiment is also a die-cut. They are from darcie's stamps. They are called u-cuts because you have to cut them out.

I thought they would make a great kids card.

There is no stamping on this card but lots of cutting. The layout is the sketch 242 from splitcoaststampers.

Anyway, my dp paper is from memory box- farmers market collection and bo-bunny holly jolly stripes. I really like how the colors co-ordinate. I didn't realize until I uploaded my card that it was 2 different companies- lol.

card recipe:

paper: gp white, farmers market collection (memory box), holly jolly stripes (bo-bunny)

accessories: darcie's die-cuts

christmas snowman

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.

Well, I think winter weather is starting to set upon us here in Pittsburgh. It was a cold but sunny day.

It's funny but people have their Christmas decorations out and we still have mums growing in pots on our front porch.

My husband commented the other day that he thought his irises were coming up. We have had really warm days here for this time of year.

I had some great news today from California. My youngest son lives there and he is coming home for Christmas.

His email made my day. He usually comes home at Christmas time, but he also waits until the last minute to buy a ticket. So he always leaves me in suspense.

It will be such a joyful Christmas celebration. My grandsons just love "Uncle Brett" and so does Mom.

Well, now onto my card for today. I mentioned I am still making Christmas cards and I need some quick cards. So I went back to the stampin-up Christmas jingle kit for some of the elements on this card. My snowman is from an old stampin-up set called "holiday hello".

The layout for the card is one of the Monday mojo sketches. I saw this card on the blog of butternut sage designs. Thanks Donna for the inspiration.

Well ,my friends its a wrap for another day here in charmed life land. Talk to you soon!!

card recipe:

stamps: holiday hello

paper: su old olive, ww, real red, christmas jingle dsp

ink: su basic black

accessories: christmas jingle kit, favorite findings buttons, nesties circles & scallop dies

christmas punch penguin

Happy Thursday to all who are visiting the charmed life blog. I have been missing in action for a week.

Usually, after thanksgiving our house gets a little hectic with putting away the fall decorations and bring out the Christmas decorations.

So I really haven't had the time to stamp, and I so missed creating.

I am not done with my Christmas cards yet so there will be a mad rush to get those finished.

Yesterday, my husband and I went to see the Rockettes Christmas show at the Benedum Theater here in Pittsburgh.

It was so fabulous. No politically correct terms in this show. They said "Merry Christmas" a lot.

The very last scene was such a surprise.

They had a live nativity scene and the wisemen came to bring gifts with camels and all.

The narrator even read the prophecies concerning Jesus from the book of Isaiah. The program said they have been doing this scene since 1933.

If you have a chance to see this show, by all means go. It is well worth the money.

Now, onto my card for today. It is actually for 2 challenges. The wednesday sketch challenge at splitcoaststampers and the Saturday crazy 4 challenges.

This challenge was to use your punches on your card.

My inspiration for this penguin is from heather summers .

She has cute ideas for use with the stampin-up punches.

My paper is stampin-up real red, very vanilla and the designer paper is from the Christmas jingle kit. I used a snowflake cuttlebug folder to emboss the background and some stampendous red dots on the snowflakes.

well, it's a wrap for another day. I really like hearing from all of you so let me know what you think of this little penguin.

card recipe:

accessories: various su punches, stampendous red dots

paper: su real red, vv, bazzill black, christmas jingle dsp