~My Strong Anchor~

Happy Thursday and thanks for taking the time the Charmed Life Blog. Today was my first day back at pre-school in over a week. Classes were canceled because of the extreme cold her in Pittsburgh.

So needless to say the kids were totally full of energy today. They had a bit of trouble with the routine that we had established with them. But if we can stay on our regular schedule, things will return to normal before not too long.

It's been great watching them start to socialize with each other and know each other's names. Plus the learning that is taking place with them is amazing. Parents tell us constantly that the children go through their school day with them. They sing the songs and repeat what's been taught that day. They only come 2 days a week but its a good introduction to school for them. Here is a link if you want to check it out.

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Viva la Verve January week 2 sketch challenge. The sketch was designed by Teresa Kline and is a fabulous one for working into a card.

I decided to go masculine with this one. And, even though it's not traditional with hearts and colors, I am going to give it to my hubby for valentine's day.  I will stamp the inside of the card with a valentine greeting and probably add some hearts.

My card is using the Stampin-Up paper "kaleidoscope" . I just love the trendy print on this and I think the colors are totally masculine. I paired it up with bermuda bay, basic black and crushed curry.

My stamps are from the Verve set "strong anchor". I stamped the center image and then used a smaller circle die to cut the center. Stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and adhered to the blue panel. 

The anchor is a Verve die that is a companion to this set. The stars and pennant flags are other Verve dies.

I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder "clock works"  on my center panel. This completes my card and post. Time to get dinner started. So until next time my blogging friends............God bless.

I am also entering:

1.  4 Crafty Chicks has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Crafty Girls Challenge is anything goes.

3.  Paper Crafting Journey has an "emboss that" challenge.

4.  Colour Me Creative has an anything goes challenge. You can choose your own colors up to 5. I used bermuda bay, crushed curry, basic gray and strawberry slush.



~keep me in your heart~

 

 

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am sitting here enjoying my morning coffee and the sunshine.

 

My indoor plants are loving the sun as well. I only have 5 of them since I am not really a plant person and they were all given to me as gifts.

 

My orchid sent up a shoot that will bring flowers to it in about 6-7 weeks. This is the 5th time I have had a bloom on that plant. I found the perfect spot in front of the window on my kitchen countertop.

 

This plant makes me think about the young couple that gave it to me on Mothers Day several years ago. My hubby and I mentored them, and they have since moved to another state. Time to check in with them to see how they are doing and give them a plant update. The orchid they bought for themselves bit the dust so they love hearing that mine has lasted and bloomed so often.

 

Now onto my card for today. I am still making Valentine cards and need a few more. I used one of the Viva la Verve sketches and color combo for January to make this card.

 

The color combo is blue, red and brown.  My cupid looks black in this photo but, I actually used Stampin-Up's espresso brown. Love that color for its deep, rich brown color.
Here are the card details: The background designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "more amore" collection. The cupid is a die from Impression Obsession.

Blue rectangle is cut with a Spellbinders die and I used the Verve stamp set "stronger love" for the trailing heart. I wanted it to look like cupid shot it from his arrow. The 3 red hearts are leftovers from the Verve scalloped border die.

The sentiment is  stamped in espresso brown ink and is also from Verve -the "hundred hearts" set. Used the Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle dies.

Used the Sizzix  embossing folder "adorning accent" on the red band and added an arrow cut in espresso brown to complete my card. Well, that's it for me for today. Want to work on more of these Verve sketches. So until next time.........God Bless. Enjoy your day wherever it takes you.

I am also entering:
1. City Crafter Challenge Blog wants us to create a valentine project.
2. Cuttlebug Mania wants us to create a Valentine "love project".
3. Created with Love has an anything goes challenge.
4. The Pink Elephant has a "love" challenge.
5.  Just Us Girls has a photo inspiration.

~Birthday Wishes~

 

Happy Monday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. My cold is on the downside, I think. I woke up feeling not too bad and that was most of the day. I was even able to get in a little crafting. That's how I judge where I am at with the sickness level (lol)!!!

 

My hubby had a ticket for the Pitt basketball game tonight. They were playing Duke and he said it was the best match-up of this year. So even though he is still not feeling well, he went to the game.

 

It was a sellout at the Petersen Center and as I watched the game on TV I could see the place was jumping with excitement. But, to no avail because we lost 80-65.

 

He had great a great seat and brought me a tee-shirt they were giving away as a freebie. He is home now and all comfy under a blanket watching tv.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #461 on Splitcoaststampers. Vicki was our hostess and she chose the color palette of  tempting turquoise, coastal cabana and crisp cantaloupe. She loves her shades of blue for sure.

 

On the coastal cabana cardstock, I layered designer paper from the Stampin-Up "afternoon picnic" collection and on the other half I used the Stampin-Up background stamp “weathered”. I stamped in coastal cabana ink. I added kraft ribbon between these 2 panels.

My daisy is cut from the Stampin-Up daisy #2 die in cantaloupe. I sponged with cantaloupe ink before removing from die.  My birthday wishes frame is cut with the Spellbinders die labels 2.

The sentiment is from the Stampin-Up set “sincere salutations” and stamped in turquoise ink. I added 3 Stampin-Up candy dots in turquoise to complete my card.

 

My inspiration for this card came from this card from Darleen Adamo. I had it saved to my faves for a while.  I changed the colors and used a different flower die. 

 

Well, that's it for me for today. Time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. Thank you to all my blog readers and followers. Your support means a lot to me. Until next time.........God bless. 

 

I am also entering:

1.  Scrapbook Stamp Society has an anything goes challenge + option to use real ribbon.

2.  The Ribbon Girl has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Stampin For the Weekend has a happy birthday challenge.

4.  Heck of a Challenge has a "new" challenge. I used some new candy dots.

5.  Tando Creative Challenge is bold and bright.



~Sweet~

 

 

Happy Sunday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Enough talk about the cold weather. It's here to stay awhile. Well, for several more months anyway.

 

Today, I am house bound because a cold came on yesterday. I woke up feeling achy, sore throat and stuffy nose. I decided not to go to service today. Don't really like missing because it sets me up for the week. 

 

Rest is the way to get rid of it fast and that's exactly what I did today. My hubby isn't feeling well either and having us both down at the same time isn't good. We both tend to get a bit cranky when we are sick (lol)!!

 

So anyway onto my card for today. This one I made for the SCS color challenge #462.  Karen was our hostess and she chose wild wasabi, blushing bride, and primrose petals. 

She also wanted us to use a button with a pearl or rhinestone center. I tried using a button on my card , but I couldn’t get it to fit with this image. 

 

My layout for this card is the MojoMonday329 sketch.

My background  was created by using stamps from the Waltzingmouse set “candy jar Christmas fillers”. I stamped in primrose petals and wild wasabi. I was really happy with how it turned out. The images were so perfect for the PI girl I used.

 

The MFT PI image is “ lollypop girl”. This was a gift to me from my awesome friend and teammate Peggy. She knows this card is going right to my granddaughter sweet Phoenix Daisy.

I paper pieced her dress and colored the image with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Fussy cut and layered on an MFT “dizzy doily” die cut in primrose petals.

 I also added a wild wasabi circle and I used the Cuttlebug “seeing spots” embossing folder. I used this same embossing folder on the middle rectangle panel as well. Layered over that is some blushing bride ribbon.

I cut an arrow with another MFT die and used part of the sentiment from the same MFT “lollypop girl” set.

 

Well, that's my card for today. It's time to end this post because soon I will be watching the next episode of Downton Abbey. So until next time.........

 

I am also entering:

1.  613 Avenue Create has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Amusing challenge is anything goes.

3.  Dream Valley Challenges has a no designer paper challenge. My card has background stamping done with stamps.

4.  Bloggers Challenge is to make your background.

5.  Alphabet Challenge "Y" young card for a little one. This is for my granddaughter.



~I Love You~

 

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life blog. We are having a winter storm here this weekend.

 

It has been snowing on and off all day and accumulation so far 4". And as I type this we are in the middle of a white-out. It's just a perfect day for staying indoors and crafting.

 

Our overnight temp is 0° and with the wind chill it will be -15°. Yikes that's cold!!. The coming week we will have frigid temps like this. Schools will probably be delayed if not canceled.

That could mean the pre-school where I volunteer will not have school. Tuesday is supposed to be the coldest day and that's my day there. Oh well, it is winter and this is what we get here in Pittsburgh.

 

Now onto my card for today. It's another Valentine card, but I send a lot of them so I need a lot. More than I have created to this point (lol)!!

 

The card layout is this week's sketch #472 from Splitcoaststampers.

 Janette was our hostess and she provided a great sketch to work into a card.

My background designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "sending love" collection. The rectangle panel is also Stampin-Up the "ski slope" collection.

My heart and the "I love you" words are made with the new die "I love you heart"  from Impression Obsession. Cut it in pink and then layered over a die cut chocolate chip circle. I am entering this in the current Impression Obsession heart challenge.

 

To complete my card, I  added some satin ribbon and a bow. Well, that's it for me for today time to make some dinner. Until next time..........God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1.  Delicious Doodles has a ribbon challenge.

2.  Simply Create Too Too has a valentine's challenge.

3. Sister Act Card Challenge has an anything goes.

4. A Little Bit Crafty has a "celebrate" challenge.

5. Really Reasonable Ribbon has a valentine's challenge.

6. The Stamping Boutique has a valentine's challenge.

 

 



~Cupid~

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.  We are back to really frigid temps here in Pittsburgh. It caused school delays today and lots of evening activity cancellations. It was a bit colder last night but that didn't bother hubby and I. We had a date night scheduled and going to the Petersen Center to watch the University of Pittsburgh play Clemson in basketball was a part of it. We stomped Clemson 76-43 so that made fighting the frigid temps worth it. Our night started at our favorite pizza shop for some dinner before the game. It was a great night spent with my hubby.

Today I went over to pick my youngest grandson up at school since I didn't make it there yesterday. I spent a few hours with all 3 of the boys and then made my way home this evening.

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge #424. Audrie was our hostess and she took us to the Design-Seeds site. We were able to choose our own color palette for our card. This was my choice.

I used just 2 of the colors in this palette - the red and blue.



My card layout is from last week's sketch challenge #471.

And, also for Friday's free for all challenge #204. Dawn was the hostess for this one, and she challenged us to use patterns in our card. I used dots and chevrons to create my valentine card. My paper is from Stampin-Up "fresh prints' collection. I love the dot pattern. Chevrons are a die from MFT and they are cut from coastal cabana cardstock.

The Cupid and love you heart are new dies that I just bought from Impression Obsession. I think they are so cute. I am alos entering one of their challenges for the first time. Here is the link for the I {Heart} You Challenge.

Well, that's my card for today. So until next time.......God bless.

I am also entering:
1.  Divas By Design has an anything goes challenge.
2.  Fab 'n Funky is all about the words.
3.  Creative Craft Challenges 2 has a "new" challenge. My cupid and love word are new dies.
4.  Cuttin' and Stampin' has an anything goes with arrows.
5.  Through the Craft Room Door has an anything goes.

Owl Hugs and Kisses

Happy Sunday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. What is that about Sunday being a day of rest??? I took advantage of that today. 

After church this morning and then lunch, I took a nap. Since napping is not part of a normal routine for me, I don't do well with it. I am not one of those power mappers like my husband. I fall asleep and then stay asleep. I curled up with a comforter around 2:00 and next thing I know it's 6:00. 

I guess it didn't help that I was up until 2:00 am last night and then back up at 7:00 am. So now I am all rested up and hoping that I can go to sleep tonight at a normal hour. 'Cause Monday is my day with my trainer at the gym. I like to be well rested since she works me so hard. 

Now onto my card for today. I am onto Valentine cards right now. I send a lot of them so I make a lot of them. This is my card for Wendy's F4A203 challenge to "pay it forward". She wants us to make a card that we will actually send out. 

I make 4 or 5 valentine cards for my 3 year old granddaughter, Phoenix Daisy, and start mailing them in January. So this is the first. She already loves getting mail from me.

My card idea came from this one by mrsscrapper. I thought her's was so cute and changed it a little by adding punched hearts and a mini tag. My card is using designer paper from the Stampin-Up "more amore" collection. The heart is from the same collection. Owls are punched with the owl builder punch. My tag is stamped with a sentiment from the Stampin-Up "all year cheer" set. That's my card for today. It's time to watch Downton Abbey. I joined the fan list this year because so many of my stamping friends were talking about it. I want to watch the other 3 seasons so I can get a history of the characters. So until next time........God bless. I am also entering: 1.  613 Avenue Create is anything goes with optional shades of blue. My designer paper has blue shades in it. Plus my owl vest is in blue. 2.  Crafty Calendar Challenge is "let's celebrate". Mine is valentine's day. 3.  Fantasy Stampers Challenge is anything with wings. 4.  My Time To Craft Challenge is all about the love. 5.  Alphabet Challenge is "Y" make a card for a little one. Mine is for my granddaughter.

~PS I Love You~

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Well, I finally have my Christmas decorations undone. All the boxes are packed and ready to be put away. My downstairs has returned to normal. Yay!! I am so ready to get back to crafting.

So onto my card for today. This one I created for the sketch challenge 470 on Splitcoaststampers. Janette was our hostess and she provided a great sketch to work into a card.  

My background is using Stampin-Up  designer paper from the "more amore" collection. I layered with basic black and my card base is using Stampin-Up primrose petals cardstock. 

On my tilted panel, I used Stampin-Up pool party and embossed with the fancy fan embossing folder. My image is from Penny Black -"love balloon". 

I stamped on vanilla cardstock. I cut with a Spellbinders oval die and then layered on a Lacey oval cut in black. The heart image is colored with a red Copic marker. 

The xoxo and pennant are cut with a Sizzix think it's die.

This is my card for today. So until next time..........God bless.

I am also entering:
1.  Brown Sugar Challenge is anything goes.
2.  Simply Create Too has a valentine's challenge.
3.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.
4.  Penny Black Challenge has a sending hugs challenge.

Valentine -XOXO-

 

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Wow- quite a busy day for me. I am just getting to sit and relax for a minute and its 10:00 pm. I started my day early this morning at pre-school. I volunteer there 2 days a week. I really am enjoying myself and the children are so sweet.  We have 9 in our class-2 girls and 7 boys. The boys are so energetic (lol)!!

 

After class, I had a hair appointment-time for a cut and color. Then off to pick up Ethan (my youngest grandson) at school.

 

Tuesdays are my day to spend with my grandsons. Ethan had indoor baseball practice and then off to basketball practice. My other 2 grandsons had basketball games so the parents went there.

 

Yikes lots or running around , but again I love being with them and helping out with all the activities. So at 8:10 this evening, I began my 50 minute drive from my son's home. Once I finally arrived home, I had a few things to straighten up and put away before I sat down to watch my Person of Interest show.

 

Now that you have the run down on my day, it's on to the card I am posting. This is another sample for the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #460.  This is another card I made for Becky's CC460. Colors are rich razzleberry, island indigo and night of navy. Dessert option is splatters.

On this card I accented the rich razzleberry and made a non-traditional color valentine card. My image is a stamp from Great Impressions. I stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Stampin-Up markers and blending pens. On the large heart with bow, and also the jar lid I paper pieced.

 

 The "xoxo" is from the Stampin-Up circle thinlits die. Used the Stampin-Up "gorgeous grunge" set to stamp my background splatters. On this panel I used a border punch from Fiskars. The white panel is using the Stampin-Up "adorning accents" embossing folder.


My layout is last week's MojoMonday #327 sketch.

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

I am also entering:

1. Die Cuttin' Divas has an out with old in with new challenge.  My xoxo is a new die from Stampin-Up. The image is an older one from Great Impressions.
2. Card Mania has an anything goes challenge.
3.  Paper Nest Dolls Challenge is anything goes.

Masculine Birthday

 

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am in the process of taking all the Christmas decorations down.

 

I love getting them all out but all  the careful packing and putting away is tedious. So I spread it out over several days to make it more manageable. The trees take the longest.

 

I have 3 of them so I usually tackle the dining room tree first. Then all the other decorations in this room. Once I have completed that I feel as though the house is returning to a normal state. It spurs me on to finish everything else. Just little tricks I use on myself (lol)!!

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #460. Becky is our hostess and she has chosen some rich tones with rich razzleberry, island indigo and night of navy.

I started with my card layout, which is this week’s MojoMonday 327 sketch. I decided to use the island indigo as my main color to create more of a masculine card. My brother’s birthday is coming up next week.

On the image panel, I used the Stampin-Up set “gorgeous grunge” to add some background splatters in rich razzleberry. The balloons are from the "party this way" set. I stamped in night of navy and cut the balloon streamers from navy cardstock.

The background designer paper is from Stampin-Up’s “venetian romance” collection. I thought this pattern looked the dessert option Becky is asking for with using splatters.

The long rectangle layer is more Stampin-Up designer paper  “world spectacular” collection. I added a border die to this panel with Verve’s scallop trio” die.

Punched a few rich razzleberry hearts from a Spellbinders die to complete my card.

Well, time to get back to my un-decorating. So until next time..........God bless.

I am also entering:
1.   Crafty Hands Challenge Blog has an anything goes.
2.  Sister Act Card Challenge has an anything goes.
3.  Charisma Cardz Challenge is birthdays.
4.  Crafting By Designs is a birthday challenge.

 

.

Blog Candy Winners

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I wanted to announce the winners of my blog candy. I am a little late with this post but things got a bit hectic the past few days.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to leave a comment and especially my new followers.

Since I had 2 posts with my review of 2013, I decided to add to my giveaway and choose a 2nd winner. I used random.org to select my winners. But I wasn't able to copy and paste the image to my blog for some reason. 

Without further adieu: - the winner from the January 1 post is Lisa Echerd. She was the 2nd comment on January 1.

The winner from the January 2 post is Jo4Him.  She commented both days but on the 2nd post, she was comment #8.

Congrats to both winners. If you will send me an email, I can get your home addresses to mail your winnings.

Until next time........God bless

2013 Year in review (Part 2) + Blog Candy

Happy New Year my blogging friends and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed life Blog. This is my 2nd part of my year in review. Today I am showing my favorite cards from July through December.

I also have some blog candy to give away. All you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment on the posts and I will choose a winner. The blog candy photo is at the end of the post. So lets get started. Part 1 is here.

July 2013 -see post here- Verve liked this as well and pinned it on Pinterest

 

August 2013- see post here- my first Washi tape card

 



September 2013 - see post here- used new Cherry Lynn Designs dies

October 2013 - see post here- made for HYCCT challenges on SCS

 

 

November 2013 - see post here- using Festive Flurries stamps and dies

 

 

 

December 2013 - see post here - used the JustRite stamp set Christmas Treasures

 





This concludes part 2 of my year in review. Let me know what you think of my choices. Listed below is my blog candy.

Blog Candy: Spellbinders labels 4 dies, Basic Grey 6 x6 designer paper, Hero Arts border stamps, Stampin-Up sets: Borders Mini, Country Charm, Festive Friends, Friendship Blooms, Holiday Best, Polka Dot Punches, Seasonal Icons, Very Punny, Wow Flowers, Ribbon and Cardstock 

 

Just become a follower and leave a comment to be entered. I will draw a name on January 8.

 

Until next time..........God bless

 

2013 Year in review (Part 1) + Blog Candy

Happy New Year my blogging friends and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed life Blog. Today and tomorrow I will be doing a year in review. I will show my favorites cards from each month in 2013.

I also have some blog candy to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment on the posts and I will choose a winner. The blog candy photo is at the end of the post. So lets get started.

January 2013: See Post here - 1st Valentine of 2013-using Great Impressions Stamp 

February 2013: See post here - first Easter card 2013 using Great Impressions Stamp

March 2013: See post here - Mojo Sketch 284, CC417

April 2013: See Post here - created for a guest design spot at ODBD

May 2013: See Post here - brayering and sponging

June 2013: See post here - my first attempt at mixed media-and these were entered in the Spellbinders DT competition as one project. I was moved to final round with these cards.

This concludes part 1 of my year in review. Let me know what you think of my choices. I have also put a link to the blog post for more info. Listed below is my blog candy.

Blog Candy: Spellbinders labels 4 dies, Basic Grey 6 x6 designer paper, Hero Arts border stamps, Stampin-Up sets: Borders Mini, Country Charm, Festive Friends, Friendship Blooms, Holiday Best, Polka Dot Punches, Seasonal Icons, Very Punny,Wow Flowers, Ribbon and Cardstock 

Just become a follower and leave a comment to be entered. I will draw a name on January 8. See Part 2 here.

Until next time..........God bless.

Debbie's Blog " A Scrap Journey has a challenge to list our faves from 2013.