kendra's shower invite

Happy Thursday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. It was a rainy and cool day here in Pittsburgh. It was a fall day for sure.
I am feeling slightly under the weather. My ears feel like they are clogged and my throat is sore. So I just hung around the house and really did nothing.

My sweet neighbor Sue invited me over for a cup of tea and a scone. She gave me a birthday gift as well. She was busy with her family visiting for the past 2 weeks, and we didn't really see each other much.
She gave me a beautiful silver bangle that has the "Our Father" inscribed on it.

The card I am posting today is the invite that I made for Kendra's wedding shower. I had been talking about doing them for several months and I am finally posting it. Her shower was a tea theme.
Her Mom, future Mom-in-law and her bridesmaids put it on for her.

It was incredible how beautiful everything was. They set-up tables of 8 and the chairs were covered with gorgeous pink fuchsia chair covers. They were each tied with lime green tulle. It was very striking. These are not her wedding colors but the ones she chose for her shower.

Her future mom-in-law has quite a collection of antique china and teacups. That's what was used at each table. One piece was more beautiful than the next.

There was a menu at each place setting with the luncheon fare. The food was sooo delicious and was served by Kendra's Dad, future Dad-in-law, fiances and his groomsmen.



kendra & aaron

It was all so impressive and a wonderful job was done by all to honor this sweet young woman.


The invitation was made with the colors she chose for her shower. She wanted fuschia and lime green. I used stampin-ups pixie pink and green galore.

The stamp images are from My Time Made Easy their "a spot of tea collection". It worked perfectly for what Kendra wanted.

This set has 20 stamps in it so I was able to create the teacup the way I wanted.
I saw this sample and when I showed Kendra she loved it. So I put together a card and made changes to make it my own.

I used a cuttlebug embossing folder "kassie's brocade" on the pink layer. The teacup was stamped in pink and then cut out and popped up for dimension. I used a Martha Stewart border punch to create the lace look and added pink pearls for bling.
On the tea bag tag I stamped the "love is brewing" sentiment and added a pearl here as well. My bow easy helped me make a double looped bow.

Well my blogger friends, it's time to dim the lights in charmed life land for another day. God Bless!!

card recipe:
stamps: a spot of tea (mtme)
ink: odbd pink, su green galore, memento rich cocoa
Paper: su pixie pink, ww
accessories: pearls, ribbon, cb ef

some birthday rak's

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. We celebrated Ethan's(our grandson) birthday yesterday. He just turned 10. He invited us to dinner but didn't check it out with Mom & Dad first. He just kept saying it will be ok Grandma, I want you & Pap to come over.

I checked with my son  later and he just laughed and said they were only planning a family dinner because the boys had football practice. But, my daughter-in-law was so gracious and insisted we come because it's what Ethan wanted. He loves his Pap some much after all.

Ethan's request for dinner was steak-pasta & salad. So we had filet Mignon, pasta with a delicious red sauce and a wonderful salad with butter greens-pears-toasted pecans blue cheese and a vinaigrette dressing.

He didn't want a cake just ice cream. So we put a candle in his ice cream bowl and sang happy birthday.
It was a wonderful night and another great family time. 

My cards for today are some that I received from blogger friends for my birthday back on September 17.

This one came from Joanne Travis, I just loved the soft pink color and the gorgeous rose. So thank you again Joanne for your thoughtfulness.

The next one came from Julia Aston. Her sweet cupcake images are from TaylorExpression stamps. So cute Julia and thanks again for thinking of me.

The last one I am posting today came from Wanda Cullen.  She used such pretty colors and the flower images and the "F" were popped up for dimension. Thank you Wanda for creating something special for me.


It's so nice to be remembered on your birthday. So just a word of encouragement to all you card makers out there. Send out your beautiful handmade creations, they are so appreciated by the ones that receive them.

Good night and God Bless

Blog Award

Last week a really sweet blogger friend, Emily Keaton, from "my little slice of bliss blog" gave me this award.

She leaves me the kindest comments on my blog and on my splitcoaststampers gallery.

Her instructions were to let you know 7 things about myself and to pass this award to 7 people.
Well, to start here are 7 things about myself:

1. I am a Christian and openly share my faith.


2. I am married to Alan, the love of my life

3. I have 2 sons-2 daughters-in-law, 3 grandsons, and a granddaughter due in December

4. I come from a family of 12-I have 8 brothers & 3 sisters

5. I (along with my husband) are Elders (part of the leadership) in our church

6. I love cooking and entertaining

7. I worked 34 years in the telecommunications industry and recently retired from Verizon

Now for the 7 people I have passed this award to:

Anne Harmon from inking in red blog
Bonnie McLain from love light and peace blog
Edna Morrisedie from edna15 blog
Fran Gumprecht from francie's fancy blog
Ida Krause from the faith artistry blog
Julia Aston from the create with me blog
Peggy McCurry from the artfull journey blog

That's it for this post and I am off to create.

whoo hoo!!

card front

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Well after the damaging storm the other day we have had 3 days of sunshine. 

I wanted to share a little about the cooking class that I took  on Thursday night. It was held at the Crate (a kitchenware store and cooking school) a local store in the Pittsburgh.

They have both demonstration and hands-on kitchens. I took a demonstration class.


card inside

The class was all about locally grown products.

The ingredients for the class came from Laurel Vista Farms, in Somerset, PA.  

It has been a working family farm for more than 100 years.

In 1988 two families purchased the farm from its original owners, saving it from residential development.
Originally raising potatoes for Snyder of Berlin potato chips, the farm transformed its crops to meet the increased demand for local produce. Their green beans, sweet onions, and potatoes are available in local grocery stores.


Our chef made: potato pancakes with sweet onion applesauce ~ sweet onion and potato soup ~ potato-encrusted roasted salmon with a horseradish glaze ~ roasted green beans wrapped in prosciutto ~ stone fruit  clafouti -this was made with prune-plums.

You get to eat all that they prepare and you get the recipes as well.
Well, all this food talk is making me hungry so let's get onto my card for today.

I made this card for a challenge that I have been reading about on the artful journey blog. My paper doll friend, Peggy is on the design team for the "Oh Alice challenges".

I have wanted to take part in their challenges for some time and today was the perfect day. Our task was to create a card with a window or a hole in it.

I have been wanting to make a card with this sweet owl punch from Stampin-up. I saw this card   from Darlene Designs on splitcoaststampers.  decided I was going to make it, in my own style of course.

I bought some paper a while ago that looked like tree bark and I used that since I didn't have a wood grain stamp. Punching through 3 layers of paper was a challenge but with the help of my big shot it went through after several attempts.

My rick rack on the front is a die from MFT and I stamped it with a sentiment from Stampin-Up's "just celebrate" set.

The inside of the card I used mustard designer paper for the owl's outfits. I cut the branch from the 2 step bird punch and the inside sentiment is from an inky antics stamp. I used my stampa-ma-jig to stamp it 3 lines vertically.

That.s my card for today. Be back tomorrow after church in the morning. God Bless!!

peace & joy

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.
We had a terrible storm on Wednesday which left thousands of homes without power in the southern suburbs where I live.
We were unable to get into our home so we spent the night at my mother-in-laws.

It's a crazy story but when the power went out it left us unable to get into the garage.This is how we come into our home most often.

I had a key to the front door but the storm door was locked so that was a no access as well. I didnt have a key to the storm door with me.
I didn't have the key to the french doors on our deck so another no access point.

I was with my grandsons in the early afternoon. They live North and their power went out for only a few hours. The rain stopped quickly so their football practices were not canceled. I dropped them off and then headed off to the Community College near their home for my Photoshop Elements class.

When the class was over at 9:30 I called my hubby, who was at work, and he told me our power was off. He didn't finish up until 11:00. I realized there was no point in making the 40 minute drive home when I couldn't get in the house. So I called my Mother-in-law, and we both went there for the night. That was the closest for my husband to drive from the airport where he works.

The power was not supposed to be restored until 11:30 pm on Thursday night. We went home anyway on Thursday morning with some ideas about how to gain access.
But, thank the Lord, when we arrived home at 10:30 the power was just restored. we were very happy when we found no damage to our home.

The community right next to ours was really hit hard. There were so many downed trees and power lines that still are not repaired.

I tried driving through there on Thursday evening to get to my cooking class and even I got lost because there were too many streets closed. Traffic lights were not working and some people do not realize that if traffic lights are out you treat it like a 4-way stop sign. It was quite a free-for-all, believe me.

Lesson learned here: I put the key for my french doors on my key chain with my car keys. I found the key for my storm door and put that on the key chain as well. So if I lock it I am no longer kept from getting in the front door. If the garage doors lose power, I can't get in from the outside so keys are vital for the other doors.

Anyway, that is why I haven't posted for a few days.

My card for today covers 3 challenges on splitcoaststampers. And a 4th challenge on the ooh la la creations blog , and a 5th challenge and new challenge for me from the StampInsanity blog.

1.  The Thursday "ways to use it challenge" was titled "holiday headstart". Our hostess, Julia, challenged us to make a holiday card and the one we chose was up to us. I chose Christmas.

2.  For the Friday "free for all challenge" , our hostess, Jeanne, challenged us to use scallops on our card. I made my card shape a scallop.

3.  The "queen for a day" challenge" this week was giving honor to Carla Suto. The idea on this one is to visit the "queens" gallery and select a card and re-create it in your own style. I chose a card that she made with a scallop nestabilities die.

4.  The ooh la la blog had a challenge to use the sentiment as your main feature on your design. My card does just that.

5.  I found another challenge blog at StampInsanity. This is an embossing challenge and my card fits right in for this one as well.

I have wanted to make a card in this shape but just never tried it. So thank you Carla for challenging me to get out of my comfort zone and make something different.

I used Stampin-Up cherry cobbler cardstock and the matching jolly holiday designer paper. This is one of their new colors and is really a pretty shade of red.

I took the cuttlebug embossing folder, "season greetings" and used just the words "peace and joy" for the center of my card. I added some poinsettias and that completed this card.

I liked how this turned out, and it would be really an easy one for mass producing. I don't usually do that for my Christmas cards but I might make a few more of these ones this year.

That's it for today my friends-take care and God bless!!

card recipe:
paper: su cherry cobbler, vv, jolly holiday dsp
accessories: cb ef, hero arts poinsettias, nesties scallop die

my wild cajun birdie

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

I was asked by Betty Wright to make a sample along with her for the color challenge over at splitcoaststampers.

It is always such an honor when I can do this. To me it says that someone else likes my work well enough to showcase it in this way.

She did choose some colors that I thought wouldn't work well together but she proved me wrong.
I made my card base the cajun craze color. This is like the color of chili powder. I usually always use some designer paper on my card but today I decided to just use cardstock and go with a card that had more of a clean and simple layout.

My layout came from my card club and our September meet. Our hostess, Michelle, had us make a card with this exact layout but in different colors. I liked it so well that I used it again for this card.

I used a Stampin-Up texturz plate on my baja breeze layer. It didn't photograph well and in fact it doesn't really make a deep impression in your paper. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to work this plate differently, please let me know. I added some pearls on this layer because the impression was so light.

I used a nesties round circle die to cut out this layer. I added a nesties scallop circle die and placed my punched bird on that circle. I used another cuttlebug embossing folder on his wing for a little texture.

Some wild wasabi ribbon and a baja breeze corduroy button and  that completed this card. I had more trouble and time in trying to photograph this card than it took me to create it.

That's my card for today, my blogger friends. I hope you will join in this color challenge with me. Let me know if you did so I can be sue to check out your card.

card recipe:
paper: su cajun craze, wild wasabi, baja blue

accessories: su wild wasabi ribbon, baja breeze  corduroy button, 2 step bird punch,
texturz plate,hero arts pearls, nesties

A razzleberry birdie

Happy Monday and thanks for taking the time to drop by the charmed life blog. We are having such a beautiful very late summer day here in Pittsburgh.

The temps are so mild and lots of sunshine. I did nothing in particular today but a little of this and that and now it's late afternoon.

We are going out with my husband's family tonight to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday.
It will be nice family time no matter where we go to eat.

My card for today covers 2 challenges:

1.  The Waltzingmouse sketch blog had this great layout posted. I liked it as soon as I saw it. It helps when someone else comes up with the layout for sure.

2.  The color throwdown blog had these great colors to work with this week so that provided my card color.

I used Stampin-Ups basic gray, rich razzleberry and pink pirouette designer paper. The bird is the 2 step bird punch.

My card corners are part of the Waltzingmouse stamp set "vintage labels 4". The sentiment is from the MSE stamp set "little birdie". I used a spellbinders ribbon tag die and the word window punch to highlight the words and also to add my razzleberry ribbon.

That completed this card. I was happy with how it turned out as well. That's always good after you spend time working on a card (lol)!!

card recipe:
stamps: waltzingmousevintage labels 4, mse little birdie
paper: su basic grey, rich razzleberry, pink pirouette, su dsp
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: spellbinders ribbon tag die, ribbon, 2 step bird punch, word window punch

my version of lilly p

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. We had such a beautiful, late summer day here in the 'Burgh. Lots of sunshine and very mild temps.

My hubby went golfing with his brother & nephew and then off to work in the afternoon so I had the day to myself.

My grandson, Ethan, had a football game but the website announced parking was very limited so I opted out. It was in the city and it's street parking and very little of that.

So I checked out the blog challenges and went to work. I found several that interested me and here they are.

1.  Saturday holds one of my favorite challenges. It's the splitcoaststampers inspiration challenge.

This week our hostess, Stef, sent us to the Garnet Hill site. I found what I was looking for immediately. They carry a line of Lilly Pulitzer bedding that I loved and I used that for my inspiration.

I knew I had some designer paper that would work well. The picture above shows the bedding that I chose.

2.  The 2nd challenge came from the Crazy for Challenges blog. This week, our hostess, Joycelyn, gave us a sketch to follow to create our cards. I love those types of challenges because they figure the layout for you.

3.  The 3rd challenge is another one form splitcoasstampers. It's part of the fan club and this month they are going "totally trendy". The idea is to use some of the hottest papercrafting trends on your card.

4.  I found a new challenge -it's the secret crafter Saturday challenge. This week they said that "anything goes". It's only a new challenge for me they are on challenge #101 so they have been around for awhile.  My card is entered in their challenge as well.

I used lace, an embossing folder, pearls and my flower stamp. These are all hot trends now in the paper craft world.

I decided to use the Verve set, "great friend"  for the circle part of this sketch.  I took 2 of the flower images and stamped them in pink. I cut them out and used 3-d tape to pop them up for added dimension. I put a pin button from Stampin-Up in the middle of this flower.

I stamped the sentiment on the middle white panel. On the 2 white panels I used the Cuttlebug folder "cassies brocade".

My designer paper is from Stampin-Up the "greenhouse gala" collection. The color is pear pizzazz. I really like these new colors and this one is probably one of my faves. I added 2 lace layers on the bottom panel and 3 pink pearls to the top panel and that completed this card.

It's almost time for hubby to come home from work so I am going to dim the light in charmed life land for another day. God Bless my blogger friends!!

card recipe:
stamps: Verve "great friend"

paper: su pretty in pink, ww, pear pizzazz, greenhouse gala dsp
ink: pretty in pink, celery
accessories: cassies brocade cb ef,recollections pearls,su button, lace darice & joann's

Sweet Stuff

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Today is a special day in charmed life land. It's my birthday. I have had lots of well wishes and cards from my family & friends.

It's always so nice to be remembered on your birthday. I feel really special today.
I had lots of birthday greetings on Facebook., phone calls from my family, gifts from my sons, and gifts from my husband.
It's not one of the milestone birthdays but everyone has treated me like it is.

My hubby brought me home a dozen of white roses and a gift certificate to the cooking school where I go and take classes sometimes. This is one of my favorite places besides the local stamp store. We went out and had a very nice dinner together and in just a bit we are going to watch a movie together.

We were going to take in the local high school football game because our community is playing against the community where my son lives. It would have been a little  friendly competition with my grandsons-in the stands I mean.

But, those plans changed because I didn't want to do that. It's my birthday after all and I get to pick the activities for one day anyway. So a quiet evening at home with hubby will be just as nice.

I did get to do some creating today. I found the cutest challenge on splitcoaststampers. It was called a "punny situation". We had to use stamps where there was a play on words. I just happened to have a stamp set from Stampin-Up named "very punny".
How perfect was that.

I chose the "sweet stuff" stamp in that set to create my card. They are mini lollipops and I stamped them on the white panel. Then I stamped them again on colored cardstock to cut out and pop up on the card for some dimension.

The Stampin' B's blog has a challenge this week to use food on your card. I eat sweets so I am entering my card as a food card (lol)!!

My designer paper is from an old Stampin-Up collection "jersey shore". I am determined to use up some of this old paper. I have so much of it. My plan is to start making clean and simple cards and give them as Christmas gifts. I will make a purse or box to put them in as well.

This color combo of blue & orange also allowed me to enter anothe challenge. It's on the Artful Inkables blog. It's part of their think ink tuesday challenge. It's my first time playing along with them.

I paper pierced the top of the card with a piercing template from Ornare. I added 3 rhinestones to set that part of the card off.

My layout is from the MojoMonday blog. It's their sketch #156. I liked this one because I think it gives you a chance to use up scraps of designer paper. So it fit perfectly into my plan.


Well, that's my card for today. I am closing this post just in time to watch my movie.

card recipe:
stamps: very punny

paper: su bashful blue, brillant blue, ww, jersey shore dsp
ink: memento tuxedo black
accessories: ribbon, rhinestones, ornare piercing template
techniques: paper piecing, paper piercing

Thanksgiving Blessings

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog.
Well, today didn't exactly go the way I planned it, but then some days are just like that.

I was supposed to have my first Photoshop Elements class tonight but the start of the class was postponed until next week.

The community college called me to let me know, fortunately. It will still run for the 10 weeks just end a week later than was originally planned.

I didn't go over to meet my grandsons school bus today. That was part of the plan along with the class. My son was able to make other arrangements. I was there on Monday so I didn't miss any time with them this week.

I ran some errands one of them being the grocery store. We were pretty low on basics. My husband is so wonderful and he doesn't complain. As long as he has food for his lunch and some snacks he is good.

Later this afternoon,  I checked out splitcoaststampers to see what the sketch challenge looked like for today. I really liked this layout and went to work on my card.

I knew I wanted to make another thanksgiving card so that determined the papers and the colors I would use.

My designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "autumn vine" collection. The pumpkin image is the cuttlebug pumpkin spice die & embossing folder. Such a great combo.

It was  discontinued but I found one online at this store. I called and ordered it and she shipped it out right away. So easy to do business with. If you are looking for this die check out the link provided.

I popped it up for a 3-d effect. My sentiment is from stampabilities and that completed my card. Another thanksgiving card to add to my collection. I usually send out around 8 or 9 so I am halfway there.

Have to start thinking about what I will be sending to my grandsons. They save all the cards I send them so I need a different card each year.

Time to put the wraps on this post and the day actually. God Bless, my blogger friends

card recipe:
stamps: thanksgiving blessings (stampabilities)

paper: su ww, more mustard, choc chip, autumn vine dsp
ink: memento rich cocoa
accessories: cb ef pumpkin spice, nesties

curtain call harvest card

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. This was such a perfect late summer day here in the 'Burgh. Lots of sunshine and warm weather.

I thought I was going to a phootshop elements class at our local community college tonight. But, when I called to find out where the room was located, they told me the class was canceled.

I wasn't a happy camper. I was looking forward to taking this 10 week course and really learning how to use photoshop elements. They claim they sent me a notification last week but I never received it.

They have another class that starts tomorrow at the North campus. It's in the area where my son lives. And, that is 45 minutes away from me.

I decided to take the class anyway. I will go and meet the boys school bus and help them with homework and get them to football practice and then head over for my class.

So I had some time to create and decided to check out the current challenges:

1.  The curtain call color challenge was having us use crumb cake, always artichoke, early espresso and white.
I thought the colors were definitely ones for fall so I made a thanksgiving card. 

My base layer is the artichoke and then I added some artichoke designer paper from the Stampin-Up "autumn traditions" collection.
I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on my white panels for texture.

My image is from Stampin-Up "autumn days" set. I don't have the espresso color yet so I used stazon timber brown.

My sentiment is a rub-on from Stampin-Up's "autumn harvest" collection. I decided to rub it on the next layer of artichoke designer paper. I added some kraft ribbon to complete the requirements of this challenge.


2.  The Paper Sundaes blog was challenging us to use at least 3 embellishments on our project. I used ribbon, a pearl, rub-ons for my sentiment,  and a border punch

3.  I have a new challenge that  I found. It's the Shabby Tea Room challenge. We were to be inspired by nature and/or make a green card. My card is done in always artichoke and I used a pheasant image on my card.

Well, my friends that's my card for today. It's late and blogger has been giving me such trouble tonight. I finished my post but it wasnt there when I went to view the blog. So I had to write it all again.
Time to sign off and hope the entire post is there.

mojo155 card

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

We had a great service at church today. Our worship team was so awesome. I just love the songs that we sang today.

Our pastor's message was so inspiring as well. I left feeling ready to tackle my week.
That is how I think we should feel when we leave church.

Our afternoon started with our neighborhood block party. There were about 24 people who came for a fun afternoon that went into evening. We ended the night with about 11 people sitting around the fire pit just talking and telling stories. It was such fun.
This is the 2nd picnic that we have had and already we are planning one for next summer.

I had to sneak out for about 1 1/2 hrs to go and watch Aidin play football. He was playing about 5 minutes from my home. Usually his games are at least 45 minutes away from me and we travel to them. He plays for his school team and they travel to other Christian schools in the area for Sunday afternoon football games.
They lost today 12-6 but I still enjoyed being there and watching him. My hubby didn't go because he was the grill man at the block picnic.

So onto my card. I made this one for 2 challenges:

1.  The Mojo Monday sketch blog had their weekly sketch and this one is actually a contest. I loved the sketch and the idea for my card came together quickly.
I knew I wanted to make a Thanksgiving card and also use the leaf die from spellbinders. I decided to cut a circle and just use the outer edge and place the leaf inside.

I stamped my sentiment on the leaf.

My thought on this one was to look back over the year as we typically due at Thanksgiving. So we are giving thanks for a year of blessing.

My designer paper is Stampin-Up  "autumn traditions" pack. I added some eggplant ribbon and little silver pearls for some bling on the leaves.

2.  This is also for the challenge on the Ooh La La creations blog. We were to use stripes on our card.

3.  The Paper Cutz challenge blog wanted us to use tags on our card. This was a new challenge for me but a fun one.

4.  Another new challenge that I just found is fab 'n' funky. They had a fun challenge this week called "what eva". That means you can make anything that you like. So I am entering my Thanksgiving card.

Well that's my card for today and the challenges I entered. Good night and God Bless!! 

card recipe:

stamps; verve year of blessing, 1 chron 16:34

paper: su elegant eggplant, mustard, vv, autumn traditions dsp

ink: always artichoke

accessories: circle nesties, spellbinders leaf die, eggplant ribbon, silver pearls

This is the sketch we were to use to create our card.

gratitude and thanksgivings

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. We had Ethan on an overnight for his birthday celebration on Friday.  He likes coming over without his brothers for some one on one time.

This is what hechooses as his birthday gift.  I pick him up after school which he also likes because he doesn't have to ride the bus home.

Then after dinner and he chooses the meal,  we go to our high school football game. He doesn't live in our community so for him to want to go to root for our team is a big deal. He chooses this also as part of his birthday gift.

Last year after the game he asked his parents for new sneakers in our school colors. How cute is he!! He did get them by the way and wore them proudly.

Our team lost the game last night 24-3. We were just outplayed and made several mistakes that cost us the game. Ethan didn't care. He was with his Gram & Pap and having fun.

I had to take him home early this morning because he had a football game himsefl at 11:00. Our time together went by so quickly and he asked about coming again (of course). We owe him another sleepover for something else so now we just have to work out the day.

I had time later today to check out the challenge blogs to see what was going on. I found several and went to work on my card:

1.  The Saturday inspiration challenge took us to the Cost Plus World Market site today. I immediately found my inspiration on the home page of this site. they were displaying  Lisbon dinnerware that reminded me of a new Stampin-Up Thanksgiving set. It's the "day of gratitude" set.

My paper doll friend, Joanne Travis, was kind enough to stamp some images and send them to me. She did this about a month ago and I finally had the opportunity to use them.
Thanks again Joanne!!

2.  The challenge from Speedy the cat's friends was to use fall colors on our card. My main color is pumpkin pie. That's a fall color in my book.

3.  This next challenge is a new one for me. It's from the Paper Play Challenges blog. The theme is "autumn is a comin" and we were to use a fall color scheme. My pumpkin pie color falls right in there again.

4.  This last one is also another new challenge for me. It's from the Anything Goes blog and they also have an autumn theme this week as well. My card was made as one of my Thanksgiving cards so I am good with this challenge as well.

Some details on my card. My background was made with the cuttlebug embossing folder "autumn type". I love the words in this folder. It just reminds you we are blessed and to be thankful.

My image was cut out and then popped up on 3-d dots to give it some dimension. The sentiment is part of the images that Joanne sent to me.

I added some pumpkin pie rick-rack and a large button and that completed my card.

It's time to dim the lights in charmed life land for another day my friends. We have church in the morning and then a neighborhood block picnic in the afternoon. Good night and God bless!!

my concord crush butterfly

Happy Thursday and welcome to the charmed life blog. Today was kind of a laid back day for me.

Nothing really on the agenda (for once). It's been run-run-run all summer so I was really looking forward to today.

Had a few quick errands toget done and laundry to do but I was free to live my charmed life today (lol)!!

Of course when the schedule is light, crafting is there to keep me occupied. Here are my challenges for today:

1.  The Tuesday color challenge on splitcoaststampers used the new Stampin-Up in-colors.

I really liked using these colors together.

2.  The Sweet Sunday Sketch blog had another great sketch this week so my card layout was covered as well.


So what I had to cover was my designer paper-the image and the sentiment. I wanted to use my spellbinders butterfly die and then I remembered that I had a sentiment with some words about a butterfly. So my part was covered now as well.

My card base is pear pizzazz, then peach parfait and then the greenhouse gala designer from Stampin-Up. I really like this paper-such pretty prints and colors.
I worked in the concord crush color on the butterfly and the scallop border on the sentiment panel.

I added some white lace and silver pearls and that completed my card.

Until next time.............

card recipe:
stamps: time enough (stamp camp)

paper: su pear pizzazz, peach parfait, concord crush, greenhouse gala dsp
ink: pumpkin pie
accessories: lace,spellbinders butterfly die, su border punch, recollections pearls

pals paper artist winner

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. This is a quick post to announce an award I was just given by the Pals Paper Artist blog.

I entered this card into their contest last week. We were to use pearls on our card. I was so excited to receive an email announcing that I had been chosen as one of the  3 winners.

Now I can sport this badge on my blog. Whoo-Hoo I am so excited!!

Thank you girls for picking my card.

great pumpkin

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend or if you are across the pond I hope you enjoyed the week-end.

We spent time on Sunday with family. On Monday we had some friends over here for a cook-out to celebrate the last holiday of summer.

Today, I had some errands to run and had the chance to spend several hours at Whole Foods and then Trader Joe's. I really like both of these stores and picked up some great cheeses and olive oil and lots of other stuff to numerous to mention.

After my shopping, I headed over to meet my grandsons school bus. We had a few hours together then I dropped them off at football practice and headed home.

It's now the end of the day and almost the night so I wanted to post my latest card here on my blog.

But, before I do that let me mention that if you currently use one of the free Leelou blogs templates for your blog design you need to check her announcement on her blog.
She is changing servers and all the blog templates need to be re-loaded by Friday. You could lose your design if you don't.

Now onto my card for today. I made this one for 2 challenges:

1.  The Saturday inspiration challenge on splitcoaststampers had us visiting the site of "Elizabeth Embellishments.  This is such a great site with lots of inspiration for rubber stampers!!

I chose the "great pumpkin" as my card inspiration. I had this embossed pumpkin die-cut from "we r memory keepers" so the pumpkin part was easy.

2.  I needed a card layout and that's where the 2nd challenge came in. The Waltzingmouse sketch challenge blog had a great one this week. I knew it would work so well with my pumpkin.

My designer paper is from Stampin-Up's  "sweet pea collection".


I added some rick rack and stamped just the words "give thanks" from a verve set called 1 Chron 16:34.

That completed my card and also this post. It's time to dim the lights in charmed life land for another day. God Bless!!

an aviary hello

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. What a drastic change in weather we had overnight.
 It was only 62 degrees here today and that was a 25 degree difference from the day before.

Last night we shut off the air conditioning and opened the windows because the temperature dropped. It was perfect sleeping weather.

Then sometime during the night the wind started blowing and we had to pull the comforter up. Not quite ready for that drastic of a change in temps yet.

Football season has started and two of our grandsons are playing this year.
Ethan (our youngest grandson) is playing in a midget football league. I think that's what it's called. He is only 9 years old.

They lost 6-0. It was sweatshirt and jeans weather for sure. Even then when the sun hid behind a cloud it was very cool. But, it was time spent with the family so that's always good.

Now onto the details of my card. This one was made for 3 challenges:

1.  The Friday "free for all challenge" on splitcoastampers had a "birds of a feather"challeng. we were to use a bird or birdcage on your card. The twist was to use a color that is out of your comfort zone.

2. That's where my 2nd challenge comes in. The Tuesday color challenge also on splitcoasstampers was more mustard, melon mambo (raspberry) and baja breeze (blue).

I like these colors but I had the toughest time trying to put them together until today. I was trying to get designer paper to work in these shades and it wasn't happening for me.
But, when I stamped the bird cage and stand in the required colors bingo!! It worked great.

3.  The 3rd challenge was also from splitcoasstampers. It was the Thursday "ways to use it".

Our hostess, Julia, challenged us to make a card with only one layer of cardstock. We could add embellishments etc.

I used a new cuttlebug embossing folder "scrollwork" to frame my image. Then I stamped the birdcage and stand using the "aviary" set from Stampin-Up. Here is where I was able to use the colors from the color challenge.

I cut out the bird cage to give it some dimension and popped it up on 3-d glue dots.
I added a piece of melon mambo ribbon and a baja breeze button to complete the card. I placed it in the middle of the stand to make it look like a table.

That's it for this card and for this post. It's late and we have church in the morning. God Bless!!
 
card recipe:
stamps: aviary, cheep talk

paper: su whisper white
ink: odbd raspberry
accessories: melon mambo ribbon, baja breeze corduroy button, cb scrollwork ef

 

wishing you.......

Well, I did make a 2nd card today and I wanted to get it posted to the Waltzingmouse sketch blog because the deadline is tonight.

In just a few minutes to be exact (lol)!! Nothing like getting in under the wire.


I am not happy with this photo but I couldn't seem to get a good one. I am going to look into photo lights tomorrow at the camera store.

I spend time creating a card and then the colors don't come out right. It's so frustrating.

Anyway, I made this card for the sketch on the Waltzingmouse blog.

I really liked the layout that Claire provided for this week. And, I just received my new Waltzingmouse stamps in the mail. They are designed to work in the Labels 4 nestabilities dies. I really am pleased with this purchase. It's the vintage labels 4 collection.

If you are looking for stamps that work with your nestabilities check out Waltzingmouse. She has lots of them.

The arrival of the stamps was perfect, I had the perfect paper and layout, but the camera didn't co-operate. Oh well, somedays you win somedays you lose.
Here are my card details. I used designer paper from Stampin-Up's razzleberry lemonade collection. It coordinates with melon mambo paper. I used melon mambo ribbon and added a pearl button on my bow.

It's the ribbon that didn't photo in the right shade. It looks like it doesn't match with the ink I used.

My sentiment is from the Verve set "framed wishes". That's my card for this challenge.

It's late and time to turn out the lights in charmed life land for another day.

live well love much laugh often

Happy Thursday and thanks for taking the time to visit the charmed life blog. Well life is starting to settle down once again in my household. My grandsons are back in school and that frees up some days for me.

I will go over one day a week and meet the school bus. But, it wont be an all day thing. Just a few hours late afternoon.

Today was another beautiful sunny day with high heat and humidity. I stayed indoors and got caught up on household stuff that was put off all summer. Filing bills-recording entries in Quicken -it took most of the day but it's finished and I am happy. 

Itt 's now late afternoon and I was so ready to create so I made a card that covered 5 different challenges. 

1.  Tuesday's sketch challenge from Mercy Kerin provided my card layout. I really liked the layout and made it a long card 3 3/4" x 8". Just something a little different.



2.  The color throwdown this week determined my card colors. We were to use choc chip, kraft and so saffron. I thought this was a great color combo.


3.  The Saturday challenge from Our Daily Bread Designs is to add some texture to your card. I did that by using a  brocade Cuttlebug embossing folder on my kraft panel.

4.  The Pals Paper Arts blog issued a challenge to use pearls on your creation. I added a pearl button in the center of my flower and 3 pearls as accents down on the bottom right.

5.  I found a new challenge today on the stampin royalty blog. Well it's new to me. The challenge there was also to use pearls on your card. So my card fit right in with the pearls I added.

My flower is from a new Verve set "great friend". I stamped it on so saffron, cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals. The so saffron designer on my long rectangle panel is some old Stampin-Up.  I added a punched scalloped border in so saffron and some taffeta  kraft ribbon and that completed this card.

It's time to close this blog post so I can go and create another card.

card recipe:
stamps: Verve "great friend"

paper: su choc chip, so saffron, kraft, vv
ink: choc chip
accessories: cb ef kassies brocade, kraft ribbon, su border punch, pearls