~look after my heart~

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It was a great Sunday and end of the week-end. Our day started with church where our Pastor had a great message. He was taking about the influences in our lives that shape who we are.

 

Then this afternoon, we went to the Petersen Events Center to watch Pitt play Louisville. Pitt ended up losing 80-68. A disappointing loss but it was a fun day with my hubby. After the game we stopped at one of our favorite pizza places. There were other fans there also so I guess we aren't the only ones who like the place as well.  

 

The snow held off but we are supposed to get some accumulations overnight. Now we are back home just unwinding before bed time. So I decided to post this card to my blog.

 

I made this one with the MFT Blueprints #15 dies. I like the angled cuts you can make with these dies. I also used one of the MFT blueprints 15 sketch for my card.

 

 

 

The sentiment is from the MFT set -"clearly sentimental about romance". I used pink glitter paper to cut my heart and the sequins and that completed this card.

 

Well, blogger friends it's late and time to dim the lights for another day. So until next time.....God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: clearly sentimental about romance (MFT) Paper: tempting turquoise, basic black, American Crafts glitter paper 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black 

Accessories: MFT Blueprints 15 & sequins die 

 

I am also entering:

1.  Brown Sugar Challenge is Valentines.

2.  Amusing Challenge is anything goes.

3.  Lil Patch of Crafty Friends has an anything goes challenge.

 

 

~Hugs From Afar~

 

Hello Blogger Friends!!! Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by and visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

We woke to some snow this morning. Not much but it looked so pretty on the bare tree branches. We are expecting more overnight and tomorrow. We have tickets for the University of Pittsburgh basketball game tomorrow afternoon.  So hopefully we don't get too much.

 

This afternoon we went to watch our grandsons play basketball. Both of them won their games. It was a great family day. The day went by too quickly though. But, it was one of those days that you wouldn't trade for anything.

 

Now onto my card for today. This is another sample that I created for the Color Challenge #514 on Splitcoaststampers. Vicki was our hostess and she chose the color palette of pacific point, marina mist and crisp cantaloupe.

 

pacific point, marina mist and crisp cantaloupe

On this card I created a little outdoor scene with dies. The houses are created with a Cheery Lynn Designs die- winter village. The stitched hillside is cut in marina mist with a new die that I just purchased from Lawn Fawn.

My plane is a die from Impression Obsession. Sentiment is a free stamp I received with a Verve order.

I decided to stamp my clouds instead of using a die cut. That worked better and didn't interfere with the plane die and banner.

 

The "hello" word is another die from MFT. And, that completes this card and my post. Time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time........God bless.  

 

card details:

Stamps: hugs from afar (Verve), Clouds (A Muse) 

Paper: ww, marina mst, pacific point, crisp cantaloupe 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: pacific point 

Accessories: plane die (Impression Obsession), winter neighborhood (Cheery Lynn Designs), stitched hillside die (Lawn Fawn) 
 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafty Calendar Challenge is what's new. I used a new die from Lawn Fawn.

2.  Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge is anything goes with a twist to add layers.

3.  Left Of Center Challenge is 3 or more layers.
4.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.

  

~Celebrate~

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Today was my fill-in day at Pre-School. Our other aide had a family emergency so I filled in for her.

 

We have a new girl in class so I like being there for both Tuesday and Thursday classes so she will get to know me. Today during our story time she wanted me to hold her so I would say that we are off to a good start.

Although 2 of the other kids wanted me to hold them as well. So I had 2 on my lap and one on the floor in front of me. I have a good relationship with all 10 of my students. They love me and I love them.

 

It's a tiring 2 hours but so worth my time. I spent 30 years investing my life in corporate America and now I am investing myself into the lives of these precious children. A much better choice I would say!!!

 

Now onto the card I created. This one I made for the Color Challenge #514 on Splitcoaststampers. Vicki is our hostess and she chose an interesting color palette of marina mist, pacific point and crisp cantaloupe. Our option was to emboss.

 

pacific point, marina mist and crisp cantaloupe

I don't often say I have trouble with the challenge colors but these ones gave me fits. The problem was I wanted to give equal weight to the cantaloupe. When I downplayed the color my card came together quickly. I needed a masculine birthday card so downplaying the cantaloupe color was a good idea.

 

All the die cuts on my card from MFT. I just purchased the balloon stamps and dies as well as the celebrate dies.  I die cut some sequins in cantaloupe and scattered them on the panel.  I cut the "celebrate" word in marina mist and overlaid with the pacific point.

The background designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "high tide" collection. My panels are cut and embossed with the Spellbinders Matting Basics A&B. So I covered our option as well.

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

 

card details:

Stamps: birthday balloons (MFT) 

Paper: WW, marina mist, pacific point, crisp cantaloupe, high tide dsp 

Ink: marina mist, pacific point 

Accessories: MFT birthday balloons, celebratory greetings and sequin die-namics    

 

I am also entering:

1.  Scrapbooker PHd has a masculine birthday + die cut challenge.

2.  Crafty Gals Corner has a let's hear it for the boys challenge.  

3.  The Male Room has a shades of blue challenge.

 

 

 

  

Mitten Thanks

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. We had a bit of snow this morning. Not much just a light dusting of that really wet and heavy stuff.

 

It was enough to keep people away from the gym. Which was good for our exercise group. There were only 3 of us today, but we didn't have to wait in any area where we were working out.

 

I did not gain any weight over Christmas and I attribute it all to going to the gym 3x a week. Because I certainly had my share of sweet treats over the holidays. But, its time now to get back to a more healthier eating routine. It's amazing how quick you can revert to old habits that are not healthy.

 

Tonight for dinner I am making some salmon, roasted vegetables and a salad. I wanted to make cauliflower but I didn't go to the store after the gym. So instead I will roast some carrots and possibly some cabbage. Roasted cabbage really brings out the sweetness especially when I brush it with coconut oil.

 

Now let's get onto my card for today. This is a perfect project to show on a wintry and snowy day. I made it for the Color Challenge #512 on Splitcoaststampers. Becky was our hostess and she chose blushing bride, rich razzleberry and mossy meadow as her colors. The option is to do some dry embossing.

 

blushing bride, rich razzleberry and mossy meadow

I needed some thank you notes for some gifts I received from my Preschool kids. So I decided to do some mitten thank you cards. I ended up making 5 of these but I didn't take photos of the other 2. 

My mitten is a die from Spellbinders. I cut in white and then layered rich razzleberry, blushing bride and mossy meadow card stocks on top.
To create the mitten cuffs, I used designer paper from the Stampin-Up in-color and polka dot parade collections. I used the square lattice embossing folder on 2 of the mitten cuffs.

Added some snowflakes, my thanks word and a bit of ribbon to complete my project.
The snowflakes are a punch from Marvy-Uchida and the "thanks word" is a die from Taylored Expressions. 

I really like how these turned out. So cute to give to a 3 year old and their family. Well that's it for me for today. So until next time........God bless.

 

card details:

Paper: WW Rich Razzleberry, blushing bride, mossy meadow, in-color dsp (Stampin-Up) Accessories: Mitten die (Spellbinders) snowflake punch (Marvy-Uchida), thanks die (Taylored Expressions), square lattice ef (Stampin-Up), rich razzleberry and blushing bride ribbon  

 

I am also entering:

1.  Deep Ocean Challenge Blog has a winter dreams challenge.

2.  Inky Chicks has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Tuesday Throwdown is to use embossing.  I used embossing folder's on my mitten cuffs.

4.  My Craft Creations has an anything goes challenge.

5.  The Crazy Challenge has an embossing challenge.   

~Valentine Love~

 

Hello Blogger Friends and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's been a week since I posted here and for good reason. I had to take down all my Christmas decorations and pack them and put them away. It's a 4 day process for me. But it's all done for another year.

 

Then I had to clean the house to get ready for our weekend guest. A friend of ours came up from Orlando for some business meetings and he is staying with us until Monday night.

 

I am still in the process of setting up my new stamping room so two of our bedrooms are in a state of disarray. I have all kinds of supplies everywhere. So Mike is staying in our newly decorated bedroom that we finished for our  4 year old granddaughter Phoenix Daisy.

 

I just shut the doors to the 2 other bedrooms and told him that they are off limits because of the project that I am in the middle of completing. He is a guy so he just laughed. He didn't really care (lol)!!

 

Now onto today's card. This one I made for the color challenge #513 on Splitcoaststampers. I was the hostess and I chose basic gray, Bermuda bay and strawberry slush as our color palette. The option was something new. I used some new designer paper on my card.

CC513 on Splitcoaststampers

I like using non-traditional colors for valentine’s cards so that is where I went with these colors. I had some basic ideas for the card elements and I just needed the right layout. So, I decided on this sketch from the November viva la verve challenges.

 I looked through my new to me Stampin-Up designer paper and chose this pattern from the “confetti celebration” collection.

 On my strawberry slush panel I used the Stampin-Up embossing folder “fancy fan”.

 

The cupid die and the love word are from Impression Obression. The heart is a Spellbinders die.

 

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

 

card details:

Paper: bermuda bay, basic gray, strawberry slush, confetti celebration dsp (Stampin-Up) 

Paper Size: A2 

Accessories: SU fancy fan ef, Spellbinders matting basics A & B & classic heart dies, Cupid and heart dies (Impression Obsession), MFT flag stax die 

Techniques: dry embossing

I am also entering:
1.  Fashionable Stamping Challenge wants us to use something new. I used new designer paper.
2.  Lil Patch of Crafty Friends has an anything goes challenge.
3.  Scrappy Hands has a layers challenge
4.  Stamping Sensations has a dies and punches challenge.
5.  Sunday Stamper has a texture challenge.

6. That Craft Place has a love/Valentine challenge.

~espresso my gratitude~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. This is a perfect day for a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate. It is sooo cold here in Pittsburgh. Tonight our temperatures drop to -1°. That's pretty cold. It's a perfect night to stay indoors in front of the fire.

 

Although we did make a trip to Ikea tonight to make some initial purchases for my new stamp room. We bought a work table and a new computer desk. They have so much in the way of storage units that it can be a bit overwhelming.

 

My hubby was a big help and had lots of ideas. He pointed out quite a few pieces that he thought would work for me. I want to get these 2 pieces in the room for now. I don't want to buy something too hastily and then find out that it doesn't work for me. I am so excited to be finally having a room of my own and to have my hubby invested in helping me is so wonderful.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made using the colors from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #511. Barbara was our hostess and whisper white, crumb cake and old olive. She also wanted us to use ribbon.

 

I decided to make a thank you card for a gift I received for Christmas. And, since the gift was a coffee travel mug I thought I would go with that theme.

My background paper is from the Stampin-Up collection "sweet taffy". The sentiment is from the MFT "perk up" set.

 I stamped in choc chip ink and then used the Darice diagonal strips embossing folder.

The coffee cup die is also from MFT. I cut in crumb cake card stock and used some Stampin-Up designer paper from the "season of style" collection.

To complete my card I added some old olive satin ribbon and bow. Well that's it for me for this post. It's late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time.......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: perk up (MFT) 

Paper: WW, choc chip, crumb cake, Gina K 120 lb white, sweet taffy& season of style dsp (SU) Paper Size: A2 Ink: choc chip 

Accessories: coffee cup die-namics (MFT), Darice diagonal stripes EF, old olive satin ribbon (SU), bow easy, rhinestone (Darice), Spellbinders Matting basics A  

2014 Year In Review

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's a cold, blustery day here in Pittsburgh. A perfect one for staying inside to cook and craft.

I have a crock pot going with some ham, cabbage and potatoes. My Mom used to make this when we were kids. I really liked it and hardly ever make it. But, I had some leftover ham and a ham bone (essential for flavor). So I cut everything up and into the crock pot it went.

For the crafting part, I decided to do my annual year in review. It is a way for me to look back over the past year to see what I created. Sometimes I forget what I have done (lol).

So take a look back with me and let me know what you think. I love getting comments and read every one of them.

 

January 2014 - see original post here

 

February 2014 - see original post here

 

March 2014 - see original post here

 

April 2014 - see original post here

 

Wild Card 2014 - see original post here

 

June 2014 - see original post here

 

July 2014 - see original post here

 

August 2014 - see original post here

 

September 2014 - see original post here

 

October 2014 - see original post here

 

November 2014 - see original post here

 

December 2014 - see original post here

 

So there you have it my blogger friends. My faves from 2014. I hope this new year brings fulfillment of all your hopes and dreams. So until next time.........God bless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays

 

Hello Blogger friends! thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Yes, I still have a couple of Christmas cards that I haven't shown on the blog yet.

 

It was a Christmas season with lots of family time. that always makes me happy. Today though we spent some time with friends.

 

A good friend of my hubby invited us to celebrate his Mom's 90th birthday. There were about 70 people there to pay honor to this remarkable woman.

 

She is all I would want to be at her age. Her mind is sharp as a tack, she is physically healthy and gets around all by herself. She doesn't drive anymore but her son takes her where she needs to go. She was so blessed that so many of her family and friends showed up to celebrate with her.

 

Now I am watching the NFL wild card playoff game with my hubby. The Steelers are playing Baltimore and we are losing 30-15 in the 4th quarter. Hopefully this will turn around in our favor. Of course we are Steeler fans. After all we live in Pittsburgh.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made with the Stampin-Up November Paper Pumpkin kit. I really liked the kit which included supplies for 8 cards as well as tags. The tags had the "happy holidays" letters and the corner snowflake.

 

My background paper is from the Stampin-Up "all is calm" collection. The sentiment panel is stamped with a snowflake stamp that came as part of the Paper Pumpkin kit.

 

My paper bow is made with a die from the MFT Blueprints 3 die-namics. I cut it in lost lagoon card stock from Stampin-Up. to complet the card I added a snowflake in the corner.

 

I used this layout on several of my Christmas cards and changed each one a little for a different look. You can see the others here, here, here, and here.

 

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

 

card details:

Stamps: simply snowflakes (Stampin-Up)

Ink: lost lagoon

Paper: lost lagoon, soft sky, ww, all is calm dsp

Accessories: MFT Blueprints 3 die, Spellbinders Matting Basics A & B, Paper Pumpkin November Kit

 

I am also entering:

1.  ABC Challenge is "A" for anything goes.

2.  Christmas Cards All Year Round is anything goes Christmas.

3.  CHNC challenge extra is anything goes Christmas.

4.  Dream Factory is "a Christmas carol". Mine is "happy holidays".

5.  The Challenge Blog by Creative Shopping is "snowflakes".