~ Cup of Cheer~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

I sent my son, daughter-in-law and precious granddaughter back home. We had a wonderful visit and I miss them already. The house is so quiet. But, on a happier note, I go out there in October to take care of her while Mom and Dad attend a wedding in Cape Cod.

 

Phoenix Daisy kept me going from morning until night. We had some special moments together. I took her to the farm one day to pick blueberries. She really liked that. And, now I have some of that delicious fruit in my freezer to be eaten on a cold, wintry day.

 

Our family reunion was a lot of fun. Phoenix Daisy got to meet some of her cousins and had such fun playing all day and into the night with them. I won the corn hole tournament with one of my brothers as a partner. In my family, that gives you bragging rights until the next reunion (lol)!!!

 

Now onto my card for today. This is another one I made for the SCS color challenge 540. Peggy was our hostess and she chose crushed curry, smoky slate and tempting turquoise. 

For this card I used this week’s MOJO407 sketch for my layout. I needed a card of encouragement for a friend and she likes coffee.

 

 My coffee mug is a die from MFT. I embossed the coffee cozy with a folder from Darice in smoky slate.

My “sending” word is a die from Simon Says Stamp cut in tempting turquoise. The “cup of cheer” sentiment is a stamp set that came in this month’s Stampin’-Up Paper Pumpkin kit.

The background designer paper is from the Stampin’-Up collections- "Flashback and Flowerpot". I used the MFT chevron stripes die to join the 2 panels. Added a couple of die cut hearts to complete the sketch and my card. 

 

Well that's it for me for today. Time to get busy with my household chores. Need to get the house back in order now that my family is gone.

 

So until next time..........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: thanks a latte (Paper Pumpkin Kit July 2015) 

Paper: Crushed Curry, tempting turquoise, ww, smoky slate, Flashback and Flowerpot dsp (SU) Paper Size: A2 Ink: tempting turquoise 

Accessories: Sending die (Simon Says Stamp), perk up, chevron stripes dies (MFT), circle dies (Spellbinders), hearts ef (Darice),   

HB2U -a masculine card~

 

 

Happy Tuesday Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

I am getting ready for a visit from my son and his family tomorrow. I am so excited to see my 4 yr old granddaughter again. It's been 2 months since I visited her.

I have lots of fun things planned for us to do together so I will see how many of the plans actually work out.

 

It's blueberry time here and one of the local farms has a pick your own berries. She loved doing this last year with picking strawberries. Then we brought them home and made strawberry jam together. We will probably just enjoy eating the berries this year.

 

I also wanted to take her on the Good Ship Lollipop. Although that is only a week end cruise so hopefully it will fit into our schedule. We have a train that runs into the city and goes right to the docking area.

 

And also in this same area is an incline that is a Pittsburgh landmark. She has never been on it or my daughter-in-law either. So I would like to fit that in as well. It runs up the side of a very steep hill. In fact it is used every day to bring people into the city for work.

 

We also have a family reunion on Saturday and my youngest grandson is in a baseball tournament this weekend. And, my other daughter-in-law wants us to come over for dinner. So lots to do in a short amount of days.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Color Challenge #540 on Splitcoaststampers. Peggy is our hostess and she chose tempting turquoise, smoky slate and crushed curry for her color trio. Our option this week is to make a birthday card.

 

tempting turquoise, smoky slate, crushed curry

I decided to case myself with my card this week. Using this card I made previously as my inspiration piece. By changing colors I was able to make it a masculine card.

My tempting turquose background dsp is from the Stampin'-Up `sweet taffy" collection. Cut my frame with an MFT die in smoky slate.

The arrow was stamped with a birthday sentiment from the “all shook up” Paper Pumpkin kit.

My HB2U balloon is stamped in crushed curry ink on white cardstock. The striped ballon is stamped in turquoise ink on turquoise cardstock.
The 3rd balloon is stamped in smoky slate ink on smoky slate cardstock. I like how it made the balloons a bit darker. Used my Misti tool for stamping.

The sentiment is from the “all shook up” Paper Pumpkin kit. well, that's my card for today. Time to get a move on with my day. I have lots to do to get ready for the family coming here.

So until next time......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: : party balloons (MFT), all shook up (Stampin’-Up Paper Pumpkin Kit) 

Paper: smoky slate, tempting turquoise, ww, sweet taffy dsp (Stampin’-Up) 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: tempting turquoise, crushed curry, smoky slate Accessories: party balloons, arrow, instaframe, blueprints 3 dies (MFT), twine

I am also entering:

1.  Card Mania has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Fashionable Stamping Challenge is all about the men.

3.  A Gem of a Challenge is birthday wishes.

4.  Hiding in My Craft Room has a lots of layers challenge.

 

 

 

~Hugs From Afar~

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! Thanks for taking the time to visit The Charmed Life Blog on this Sunday in July.

 

We are back home after our little getaway. We came home to very hot and humid weather. That's ok since we need our tomatoes to start to ripen.

 

Yesterday, I went, with my friend Linda, to the rubber stamp show that comes to Pittsburgh in July. They moved the venue this year to a location about an hour from me.

 

The organizers said attendance was down. Hopefully, it will pick up for today. I like having a stamp show come to the Pittsburgh area each year. But, if its not attended that will keep vendors from returning and then the organizers will pull out.

 

We did 3 make and takes and lots of shopping. So all in all it was a fun day with my friend Linda. We are planning on a get together in a couple of weeks to use some of our new products. That is always a great day.

 

I am working on my post before church so let's get on to my card for today. This one I made awhile ago and just didn't post it to my blog. I made a similar card with this post back in January. But this one is a simplified version.

 

I wanted a card of encouragement and the plane die and background paper helped me make a quick card. The designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up collection "welcome neighbor".  My plane die is from Impression Obsession.

 

The houses and clouds helped decide my card colors. I used melon mambo and bermuda bay card stock. Cut the plane in melon mambo. The sentiment on the banner is from Verve. It was a free one I received for an order placed.

 

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

 

card details:

Stamps: Verve 

Paper: bermuda bay, melon mambo, welcome neighbor dsp (Stampin-Up) 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: Memento tuxedo black 

Accessories: Impression Obsession plane die

 

I am also entering:

1.  Eclectic Ellapu has a travel challenge.

2.  The Corrosive Challenge is dies.

3.  Alphabet Challenge is "k" for kind thoughts

4.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.

 

 

~Joy~

 

Happy Thursday Blogger friends!!! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog.

We are away for a few days on summer vacation. We didn't make it to the beach this year, but we are is just fine with me.

 

Our neighbors gave us a heads up on this place nestled in the woods in Wardfordsburg, PA. It is a 3 hour drive from Pittsburgh. The place is called Green Valley Cottages.

 

The Excelsior Cottage is the one we booked and is a private gated one on 22 acres. There are lots of flowers, a meandering creek, a little man-made pond, walking trails into the woods, 3 decks to sit and take it all in. Obviously there is internet or I wouldn't be making this post.

 

On the property with our cottage is the original barn the owner uses for storage, and an old 1 room school house. We are about 15 miles to the nearest town. So on arrival we went food shopping and have cooked here every night. The kitchen is well stocked and equipped.

 

Further down the road from where the other 3 cottages are they have a private lake with a paddle boat. We took it out twice and just relaxed on the lake. There are 2 other families here but you wouldn't know anyone else is here. We are away from where they are and only see them at the lake.

 

We also have a fire pit here and each night have built a fire and made s'mores. Last night for dinner we decided to use the charcoal grill and I made some awesome hamburgers. Well, I prepared them and my hubby did the grilling. It's sort of a guy thing you know.

 

We leave for home tomorrow late morning. I have really enjoyed my time here. I would love to come back in the fall when the leaves are changing. It would be so beautiful.

 

view from front deck -old schoolhouse in back

hiked to the lake on 1st day to check it out

 Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #539 on Splitcoaststampers. Karen is the hostess and she chose wild wasabi, perfect plum and soft sky as her color combo.

 

wild wasabi, perfect plum, soft sky

I decided to use the Stampin’-Up “wondrous wreath” set to make my very first Christmas card of this season. Need to get a move on it cause I make a lot of cards to send. I like making Christmas cards using non-traditional colors.

My background is soft sky cardstock, and I used the Stampin’-Up “hardwood” stamp and stamped in soft sky. I used my newly purchased Misti to stamp several times to get a darker impression.

I stamped my wreath in wild wasabi and then a little contrast with cucumber crush. The bow and Joy word are cut in perfect plum.

Added a few of the flowers from the wondrous wreath set and stamped on perfect plum cardstock with perfect plum ink. Finished my card with the sentiment from a Whipper Snapper stamp.

 

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

 

card details:

Stamps: wondrous wreath (Stampin’-Up), our house (Whipper Snapper Designs) 

Paper: basic gray, soft sky, perfect plum Paper Size: A2 

Ink: soft sky, perfect plum, wild wasabi, cucumber crush 

Accessories: wonderful wreath framelits dies, Misti

I am also entering:
1.  C.R.A.F.T. Challenge is Christmas
2.  DL.Art Thursday Challenge is Christmas in July
3.  Addicted To Stamps has a holiday challenge.
4.  Crafting By Designs has a get ready for Christmas challenge
5.  Crafty Gals Corner has a Christmas in July.



 

 

class of 2015

 

Happy Saturday Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Hope your weekend is going well so far.

 

I spent last night helping my neighbor work on wedding shower invites. There was a slight error on her printed invites and she needed to add a small printed tag to add some rsvp info.

 

She printed the rsvp information and I used one of my tag dies to cut out the words. We made a small twine bow and attached it to the card. It turned out really cute. Took us until 1:00 am but they were all finished and ready for mailing today.

 

Today we had a graduation party to attend for my great niece. It was a wonderful time spent with family. My niece is an amazing story of overcoming adversity. She lost her Dad (my nephew) unexpectedly 3 years ago.

 

She even won the Amelia Earhart award her high school gives to a student who has overcome social, learning or health issues to become a better student and citizen.   She was given an HP laptop and a college scholarship award.

 

So we definitely wanted to go and celebrate with Tori. Now onto my card for today. This is the one I made to give to her. Her school colors are black & gold. I just made the card today and finished it up with only time to get a shower and head out the door.

 

I had to get a quick photo of the card before we left. No time to look at the photo and edit and take others if it didn't photo correctly. I wasn't really pleased with this photo but it's what I have to show today.

 

I decided to make her a shaker card. I added some red sequins because the school colors were just a bit dull to me. Or maybe it was the gold paper I had to use. In real life I liked how it turned out.

 

I used some MFT graduation dies to cut my hat and class of info. I cut the class of, 2015 and star with some black glitter paper I had in my stash. On the black background panel I used a stars embossing folder.

 

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

 

card details:

paper: black cardstock (Stampin'-Up), gold text weight paper (The Paper Company), black glitter paper (Tessler Stamps)

Accessories: graduation accents, little numbers (MFT), sequins (Darice), Stars embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

 

~Sending Wishes~

 

Happy Wednesday! Hello Blogger friends and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

Today I went with my friend to our local Penney's store to look for some new curtains for my bedroom. My hubby painted it about a month ago. I have a new comforter that I bought about a year ago and never took it out of the packaging.

 

The room is almost getting finished. We are such procrastinators when it comes to getting things done it seems. The curtains weren't in stock so they will be delivered to my home next week. I just need to buy some new rods and my hubby will put them up. They had rods at Penny's but I thought I may be able to pick them up at Bed Bath and Beyond a little cheaper. If not, I will make a trip back to Penney's and get the ones I saw there.

 

Then there is still the issue of my new craft room. I am still working on getting that organized. Although I get sidetracked and would rather create than organize (lol)!!

Which was the case today when I returned from my curtain buying.

 

I checked out the sketch on Splitcoaststampers and decided to work on that. Allison is the hostess and she created a great layout for us this week. I like using tilted panels on a card.

 

 

I just got a box of new Stampin'-Up goodies in the mail and I decided to use some on this card.

My image panel is created with the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I stamped in crisp cantaloupe, tangerine tango and pistachio pudding. The colors in my designer paper.

The butterfly is cut with the butterfly thinlits die in tangerine tango and designer paper from the Stampin'-Up "Venetian Romance" collection. The background designer paper is from the same collection.

The smaller tilted panel that goes over the edge of the card is embossed with the Boho Chic embossing folder and a piece of designer paper from the Stampin'-Up "watercolor wonder" collection.

 

That's my card for today. It's getting late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time.........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics 

Paper: island indigo, pistachio pudding, whisper white, venetian romance dsp (Stampin'-Up) 

Paper Size: A2 

Ink: pistachio pudding, crisp cantaloupe, tangerine tango 

Accessories: Boho Chic ef, butterfly thinlits dies (Stampin'Up)  

I am also entering:
1.  Creative Card Crew has a die-cut challenge.
2.  Deep Ocean Challenge has a 2 stamped images challenge. I stamped a collage.
3.  Loves RubberStamps has an anything goes challenge.
4.  Papertake Weekly has an anything goes challenge.

~Balloon Birthday Greetings~

 

Happy Tuesday!! Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

Well, we had rain again yesterday and more rain in forecast for the next 10 days. I am not complaining but all the rain has played havoc with the garden, and we have lost some potted flowers because they got too water logged.

One of them was a pretty verbena that one of my pre-school students gave me. It was doing so well then 2 weeks of rain was just too much for it.

 

I heard from my son and daughter-in-law yesterday about their expected arrival in Pittsburgh. She is in Boston now visiting her parents and will be here on July 22.

I am so excited to see them. My son gets in on July 24 and they will be here until July 27. We have a family reunion on July 25th. It will be fun to have them here for that this year.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #538 on Splitcoaststampers. Vicki is our hostess and she chose island indigo, melon mambo and sahara sand as her color combo.

sahara sand, melon mambo, island indigo

 



Our option this week is stripes. I used them in one of my stamped balloons. Somehow, I got the option mixed up and thought it was to make a birthday card. But, it all worked out in the end (lol)!!!

 

For my card, I used the MFT "party balloons" stamp set and matching die-namics. My inspiration came from this card I had pinned on Pinterest.

My melon mambo background designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up `sweet taffy" collection. The sahara sand frame is another MFT die as is the island indigo arrow and the pierced indigo band. I used mounting foam on the frame for added dimension.

The balloons are stamped in melon mambo and island indigo inks on sahara sand card stock. I also used mounting foam on the balloons for dimension.

The mambo ink looks darker on the sahara sand cardstock. Maybe because I just used my new Misti to get a solid image, and there are more layers of ink. Love this new toy and it works just as marvelously as everyone says it does.

I stamped my birthday sentiment in island indigo. The sentiment is from a set I received in the Dec 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin'-Up.  

 

Well, it's time to close this post. I have a few errands today. One of them is to go to Penney's to look for new curtains for my bedroom. My hubby painted it a couple of months ago and it's time to finish off the room. I have had a new Comforter set for over a year but it didn't come with matching curtains.

 

So until next time.........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: Paper Pumpkin 2014, party balloons (MFT) 

Paper: sahara sand, melon mambo, island indigo, sweet taffy dsp (Stampin'-Up) 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: melon mambo, island indigo 

Accessories: Spellbinders Matting Basics A & B, insta-frame, party balloons, lead the way, blueprints 3 die-namics (MFT), Misti  

I am also entering:
1.  Craftin' Desert Divas has a birthday linky party.
2.  Crafty CardMakers has a sentiment challenge.
3.  Jo's Scrap Shack has an anything goes.

~God Bless the USA~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed life Blog.

 

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Hubby & I did get to see our community fireworks on Saturday night. They were quite spectacular.

 

Then today we were invited to a friend's home for a backyard cookout after church. It was a very nice and peaceful afternoon. They have a pool but the water was a bit chilly because of all the rain we have had. It didn't stop the kids from jumping in the water and playing.

 

Our friend had some roasted corn on the cob. It was so delicious. He has a smoker grill and used an apple smoked wood along with the charcoal. So all in all it was a great day spent with friends.   

 

Now onto my card for today. This is one I made to send to my brother for the July 4th holiday to thank him for his military service. He is an army veteran.

 

I used the Flourishes set "patriotism on parade" and the set has this silhouette plus the same images in an outline stamp.

Stamped the silhouette image and then stamped the outline image for the 2 flags. I colored the tiny flags in real red and navy and popped them up over the flags on the silhouette image. This covers the stripes portion of the SCS WT challenge.

My fireworks are from a stamp by Great Impressions and stamped in real red ink. The added stars are from the Verve scalloped trio die. I used this die and cut a border in marina mist to ground my silhouette image. 

 

Well that's my card for today. It's tiem to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: patriotism on parade (Flourishes), fireworks (Great Impressions Stamps) 

Paper: night of navy, marina mist, whisper white 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: real red, night of navy 

Accessories: scalloped trim trio die (Verve) Techniques: paper tole

I am also entering:

1.  SCS WT #537 Challenge is stars & stripes.

2.  DL. Art has a red, white and blue challenge.

~Home Of The Free~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's July 4th and time for celebrations all over this great land of ours. We are going to a friends house for a backyard barbecue and then off to a fireworks display this evening.

 

I can't believe it's been 4 days since I have posted a card. I was a bit busy this week. We had our pre-school teacher thank you dinner and I was hosting it at my home. I spent Wednesday cleaning and food shopping. Thursday was our dinner so the food preps started early in the day.

 

I served a roasted butternut squash salad with a white wine vinaigrette, orzo with caramelized onions and blue cheese, and chicken breasts with lemon sage butter. Everything turned out great and the teachers asked for the recipes.

 

I have made these dishes before and I think my very favorite was the orzo. It has such a delicious blend of flavors with added honey, balsamic vinegar, mascarpone cheese, spinach golden raisins, nutmeg and toasted pine nuts.  If any of you would like this recipe, just let me know. I can email it to you.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for my nephew to thank him for his military service on this 4th of July. He is an Air Force vet and served 4 tours of duty in Iraq.

 

the card colors are from the Color Challenge #536 on Splitcoaststampers. Maura was the hostess and she chose real red, marina mist and night of navy as her color palette. 

real red, marina mist, night of navy

My layout is an older Sweet Sunday Sketch #274.

I used the MFT Blueprints 15 dies to cut my background pieces. My white background layer is stamped with the Great Impressions fireworks stamp in real red. The sentiment on this panel is from SNSS stamps "patriotic cocoa".

The bottom striped panel is designer paper from Recollections. Sentiment on this panel is from the same SNSS set.

 Added some stars cut with an MFT die to complete this card. Well, blogger friends it's time to close this post. Have 2 dozen ears of corn to shuck for the backyard barbecue we are attending. Hope your day is a blessed one no matter what your plans.

 

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

 

card details:

Stamps: patriotic cocoa (SNSS), Fireworks - G303 (Great Impressions Stamps) 

Paper: night of navy, real red, whisper white, marina mist  

Paper Size: A2 Ink: night of navy 

Accessories: MFT Blueprints 15 dies

I am also entering:

1.  A Gem of a Challenge is red, white and blue

2.  My Sheri Crafts has a 4th of July challenge.

3.  Bloggers Challenge is to wave the flag

4.  Brown Sugar is a red, white and blue challenge.

5.  Crafts 4 Eternity has a red, white and blue challenge.