Mum Magic

Hello Blogger Friend! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. It is a beautiful fall day here in Pittsburgh - sunny and pleasantly warm.

 

We started our day off at church then went out to a nice brunch afterwards. Someone gave us a gift card to the Bonefish Grille. It's a chain but we like their food and they have a nice order from the menu brunch. Both my hubby and I ordered their California omelet. It was delicious.

 

Normally we don't order an appetizer but we also had a coupon for a free bang-bang shrimp appetizer. It was really good with just enough kick to it.  My hubby got it as part of a golf outing this summer. We had a nice time together and now we are home enjoying the day.  

 

I mentioned on yesterday's post that we were going to my grandson's football game. That was a great family day and even more exciting because his team won.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for the color challenge #651 on Splitcoaststampers.  Karen was our hostess and she chose pool party, peek-a-boo peach and black. Optional was to use any green.

Black, peek-a-boo peach, pool party

 For my card, I decided to try the black magic technique. This was my first try at using a technique that’s been around for awhile. Here is a link to the Splitcoaststampers tutorial.

I used the chrysanthemum flower stamp. It is a stamp and die combo from CottageCutz.  I stamped in white craft ink on basic black cardstock. Once that dried, I used Prismacolor pencils in the coordinating challenge colors to color the image.

My birthday phrase is a die from PaperTrey Ink and I cut in pool party cardstock. To complete my card, I added some pool party seam binding and a bow, scattered some peek-a-boo peach enamel dots. To accent my image, I used a Stampin’-Up chalk marker. This accenting is part of the black magic technique.

 

Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time...…...God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: chrysanthemum flower – November (CottageCutz)

Paper: basic black, pool party, white  

Paper Size: A2

Ink: white craft (Stampin’-Up)  

Accessories: : Prismacolor Pencils: #939 peach, 1033 mineral orange, 909 grass green, 912 apple green, 992 light aqua, pool party seam binding, in-color enamel dots, stampin’ chalk marker (Stampin’-Up), birthday die (PTI)  

Techniques: black magic  

 

I am also entering:

1.  The Paper Players has a tic-tac-toe challenge. I chose leaves, ribbon and die-cut.

2.  HIMCR #372 is a freestyle challenge.

3.  Sweet Stampin' has a spotty challenge.

4.  Colour Crazy Challenge has an anything goes w/coloring.

5.  Polkadoodles has an anything goes challenge.

Halloween Ice Cream Treat

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

 

Another weekend is upon us. Hope you have some plans for something crafty. Shortly after this blog post is finished we will be leaving for my youngest grandson's football game. It's a beautiful day here in Pittsburgh for a football game. Sunny and a bit cooler is the forecast for today.

 

I pulled a muscle in my back at the gym last weekend. I have been going to the Chiropractor for visits. It's helped a lot. I am more mobile than I was last weekend. Although it was a bit difficult at Preschool this week. I couldn't bend down very well or sit on the floor during our circle times. Icing my back and doing some limited stretches is helping along with the adjustments.

 

Now onto my post for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. I used a new die from the 2018 Halloween release - "Halloween Ice Cream Cone". The hello phrase is a peek from the soon to be released Autumn collection.  

 

Used some Stampin'-Up designer paper from their "Spooky Night" collection. I liked the lab flasks and beakers along with the stripes. It is a perfect background for my ice cream cone.

My main card colors are pumpkin pie and cajun craze. The ice cream cone is gorgeous grape, gumball green and pumpkin pie. I took the colors right from the die packaging.

 

Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time...….God bless.

 

Dies used to create card:

I am also entering:

1.  Moo-Mania has a food, sweets & treats challenge.

2.  Simon Says Stamp has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Addicted to Stamps and More has an anything goes challenge.

4.  Creative Moments has an anything goes w/option of fall colors.

5.  Crafty Creations has an anything goes challenge.

 

 

Nativity Card

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

 

Well it's official- the Fall season starts this weekend. We have been having some really hot and humid days. A little unusual for the Pittsburgh area this late in September. It's supposed to cool off this weekend though.

 

Today we are having our annual block picnic. My next door neighbor is the host home and we will have about 40 or so neighbors show up. It's always such a good time. Everyone brings a side dish to share and then we grill hamburgers and hot dogs. There will be some games for the kids and adults. It's nice to catch up on people's lives that you don't get to talk to often.

 

I wanted to get my Blog post done early because I have to get my side dish prepared and a few other things to help out. This card I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog.

 

I used a sketch that I found on the PageMaps site for my card layout. It's a 5 1/2" square card. I wanted a layout that would show off my background paper and a more simple layout that could easily be produced.

The designer paper is from Stampin'-Up's "twinkle twinkle collection. I thought the pattern would be perfect for this Believe Nativity die. The paper is such a rich shade of navy blue. So I decided to go with those colors for my card.  

 

My sentiment is from a PaperTrey set Christmas set. I stamped part of the silent night sentiment. It was on one line but with the help of my MISTI and masking tape, I converted it to a 2 line sentiment.

I finished off my card by adding a few royal blue sequins for a little bling.

 

This one will be easily to make more of to send at Christmas. Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time ……..God bless.

 

Dies I used to create card:

I am also entering:

1.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is anything goes.

2.  The Merry Christmas Challenge is anything goes

3.  CraftyCatz has an anything goes w/optional of Christmas.

 

 

Country Christmas Wreath

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

 

First, I would like to extend my prayers to the people that have been affected by Hurricane Florence. Watching all the television coverage of the storm is so incredible of what's happening in the Carolina's. Until physical help can come and assist, I believe that prayer is the best option right now.

 

My card today is one that I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. I used the new Grapevine Wreath w/Bird die on my card.

 

Used a sketch that I found on Pinterest for the card layout.  This sketch gave all the measurements so it was easy to do all the cutting. I subbed the wreath image for the oval on the sketch.

 

The background gingham paper is a pattern from BoBunny. I thought it just added to the country look of my card. For the small center rectangle on the card, I used wide white ribbon (1.5") and then layered red ribbon (5/8") over that.

 The corner flourishes are part of the Country Merry Christmas Phrase.

 

When I attached the wreath, I used Ranger multi matte medium sparingly. I didn't want it to be completely attached. I like the look of it being slightly lifted off the ribbon.

That's my card for today. Hope you have a great weekend and until next time...…..God bless.

 

dies I used to create card:

I am also entering:

1.  CHNC #403 challenge is anything Christmas with option of using gingham.

2.  Winter Wonderland has a Christmas challenge using ribbon or twine.

3.  Merry Little Christmas Challenge #2 is anything goes Christmas.

4.  Twelve Months of Christmas has a "tweet Christmas" challenge.

5.  The Merry Christmas Challenge has an anything goes challenge.  

 

Vintage Roses

Hello Blogger friends and thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog today.

 

First off, I would like to extend prayers to those residents of North and South Carolina as the latest hurricane (Florence) is getting ready to make landfall on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

 

The news is reporting a very well prepared response from both the federal and state governments. Great coordination between all the agencies. So that's good to hear.

 

Now for my card for today. This one I created for the color challenge #692 on Splitcoaststampers. This was the 2nd sample I created for this challenge. See sample 1 here.

very vanilla, mint macaron, blushing bride

Karen was the hostess and she chose very vanilla, mint macaron and blushing bride for her color trio. Optional was to make your card in the vintage style.

Vintage is so out of my comfort zone but Karen put forth the challenge, so I had to give it another try. This time I used some of the elements from the Stampin’-Up March 2018 Paper Pumpkin kit. The envelope in this kit has such a vintage look to it so I cut it apart and used it for my background paper and image.

I added some lace ribbon, and as extra trim blushing bride enamel dots. For the bow, I used crinkled seam binding and tiny ribbon roses from my stash for the center.

 

Well, that's it for me for this post. So until next time...…..God bless.

 

card details:

Paper: blushing bride   

Paper Size: A2  

Accessories: March 2018 Paper Pumpkin Kit, blushing bride enamel dots (Stampin’-Up), scalloped lace ribbon, seam binding (Hobby Lobby)  

 

I am also entering:

1.  Craft-Dee Bowz is anything goes with a handmade bow.

2.  Creations in Pink has an anything goes in pink.

3.  Creative Craft Challenge has a ribbon and/or lace challenge. I used both.

4.  Crafters Café has a 3 of something challenge. I used 3 enamel dots on my lace.

 

Birthday Tulips

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

 

Hope your weekend was a great one and you were able to do some crafting or something else fun. I put out all my fall decorations. Sunflowers, pumpkins, fall leaves and scarecrows are adorning the living room, dining room and kitchen. I have several Thanksgiving themed decorations that I will put out at the end of October.

 

We are having a massive rainfall here in Pittsburgh and yesterday the police sent a community wide call and asked people to stay off the roads. There were power failures and flooding so it was a day for indoor activities.

 

Our home is fine but there is a creek that runs behind our house that is really swollen with all the rain. We have had 10" of rain so far. It is supposed to stop around 4:00 this afternoon.  It has been raining since late Friday night. I am more than ready for it to be finished.

 

Now let's move onto my card for today. This one I created for the color challenge #692 on Splitcoaststampers. Karen was our hostess and she chose very vanilla, mint macaron and blushing bride for her color trio. Optional was to create a vintage card.

very vanilla, mint macaron, blushing bride

Vintage is so out of my comfort zone but Karen put forth the challenge, so I had to give it a go. I had this card pinned on my Pinterest board so I used the layout but changed the colors. I needed all the help I could get (LOL).

I used the tranquil tulips set from Stampin'-Up on my card. Love how this set stamps to give the image a somewhat watercolor look.

My background mint macaron designer paper is from the color me irresistible collection. The angled layer has designer paper from the Stampin'-Up "bundle of love" collection. Distressed all the edges for the vintage look with the Tim Holtz distressing tool.

The doily is cut in blushing bride cardstock with a die from Cheery Lynn Designs.

Added some linen thread, ribbon and pearls to finish off this card. Birthday sentiment stamped in soft suede ink.

 

Well, that's it for me for this post. Have lots to do around my home today. Tomorrow it's my first day of Pre-School. Summer vacation is officially over!!!

 

card details:

Stamps: tranquil tulips (Stampin'-Up), silly shells (MFP)  

Paper: mint macaron, blushing bride, very vanilla, bundle of love, color me irresistible dsp 

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: soft suede

Accessories: blushing bride ribbon, linen thread, pearls (Stampin'-Up), Polynesian sails die (Cheery Lynn Designs)  

 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafting from the Heart has an anything goes challenge.

2.  heARTful Stamping has an anything goes + use a stamp challenge.

3.  Stamping Sensations has a "B" challenge. I have blushing bride cardstock and ink, bow and birthday sentiment.

4.  A Vintage Journey has a back to nature challenge.

 

Joyful Christmas Mice

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

 

It's a rainy Saturday here in Pittsburgh. In fact we are supposed to get 5" of rain this weekend. The remnants of the tropical depression Gordon. It will be a good time to stay inside and spend some time in my craft room. That way I can watch the rain from the window.

 

First up today will be to process our garden tomatoes. My hubby picked about 20 lbs. of tomatoes and I will be canning them. But first, I do have a card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. So let's get started with some details.

Step 1: I started off by die cutting all the pieces that are part of this die set. I use various colors of cardstock. But you could cut them in white cardstock and then color the pieces with pencils, alcohol markers or water color. 

I simply followed the package coloring and used similar cardstocks. Our artist does such a great job of coloring the images, and I always love the colors she uses.

My Joy word is cut from the new die Love, Peace & Joy. I cut it 2x in red cardstock to give it a bit more dimension on my card.

Wanted just a bit of snow in my outdoor scene so I cut a snowbank in white glitter cardstock from the Snowman Lane die. Click here to see another card I made using this die.

The last item for my card prep is the background clouds. I wanted this to be a daytime scene. Although with the lamp pole you could certainly make a nighttime sky and have a great night scene. 

I used a mini-cloud stencil and distress ink to sponge in some clouds. I stenciled right on the white card base, making this more of a one layer card.

Step 2: Now that all the pieces of the card are ready, it's time for card assembly. I started with the snowbank.

Then I attached the Christmas Mice die cut pieces with a combination of glue dots and double sided adhesive.

The Joy sentiment was attached with Ranger multi matte medium to complete my card. I don't often do one layer cards because I like the addition of designer paper and layers but I like how this one turned out. I plan on making several more of these for Christmas. 

Card Base: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

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

 

dies I used to create card:

 

I am also entering:

1.  Brown Sugar has an all creatures great and small challenge.

2.  Winter Wonderland has a Christmas Joy challenge.

3.  2 Crafty Critter Crazies has an anything goes with a critter.

4.  Crafty Animals has an anything goes challenge.

5.  The Merry Christmas Challenge has an anything goes.

6.  Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is anything goes + include word Joy.

coneflowers

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

It's the last holiday weekend of summer. We are celebrating the labor day holiday. The weather here is hot and sunny. The perfect weather for our tomatoes to ripen.

 

Yesterday I processed my first batch. It's a lot of work but I love taking the summer bounty to enjoy in the cold winter months. I have five 16 oz jars now. I will probably end up with about 12-15 jars once its all said and done.

 

I also roast some with onion, garlic, olive oil, a bit of balsamic glaze and some salt and pepper. It makes such a incredible sauce. You don't need to add anything else. I use a variety of tomatoes in both the canning and roasting methods. Right now all I have is roma tomatoes but our heirlooms are getting ripe. Those two together make a powerhouse sauce.

 

I wanted to get this post done so I can enjoy a bit of the outdoors today. This card I made as a sample for for the color challenge #699 on Splitcoaststampers.

rich razzleberry, berry burst, old olive

Karen was the hostess and she chose rich razzleberry, berry burst and old olive as her color trio. Optional this week is a touch of gold.

I decided to do some coloring on my card because these colors seemed like they belonged on a flower. I am using the Oriole w/Blossoms stamp and die from CottageCutz.

Colored the coneflowers with Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends, and Prismacolor pencils & gamsol. The coneflowers stems are old olive stampin' blends. I took some liberty with the oriole since they are usually black and orange. And, orange is not one of our colors this week. I colored with prismacolor pencils and gave him more of a sparrow look.

My background designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up "gold fancy foil" vellum collection. I layered with gold foil. Added some ribbon and a bow to complete the card.

No sentiment yet because I am not sure if this will be a birthday card or something else. The heart on the bow is a metallic enamel shape.

 

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

 

card details:

Stamps: Oriole w/Blossoms (CottageCutz)  

Paper: berry burst, gold foil, gold fancy foil vellum (Stampin'-Up), solar white cardstock (Neenah Crest)  

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: tuxedo black (Memento)  

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive Stampin' Blends, berry burst ribbon, metallic enamel shapes (Stampn'-Up), Prismacolor Pencils: PC947 Dark Umber PC1082 Chocolate, PC995 Mulberry, PC1062 Cool Gray, Stitched Eyelet Oval die (CottageCutz)  

 

I am also entering: 

1.  Crafting From the Heart has an anything goes challenge.

2.  A Bit More Time to Craft has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Classic Design Team Challenge is anything goes.

Christmas Fawns Walking in Winter Wonderland

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

It's a holiday weekend and summer's last hurrah. Seems like I was just welcoming summer for the Memorial Day weekend. Don't know where the last 3 months actually went (lol)!

I was up at pre-school this entire week with the other teachers preparing the classrooms and decorating the hall and entryway for the start of school next week. Everything looks so nice to welcome the kiddos. I am looking forward to the new class we will have this year. Some of the kids are younger siblings of others we taught previously.

 
Now onto my card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. I used the new Christmas Fawns die to create my card. So, let's get started with some details on how I created my card.

 

Step 1:  I started my card with the colors this week. I used the colors from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #702 or my card. The colors are cherry cobbler, early espresso and so saffron. I was able to incorporate them nicely into my card.

so saffron, cherry cobbler, early espresso

Step 2: Once the card colors were chosen, I started the stenciling for my background. I used a snowfall stencil and some shimmery white embossing paste. There is lots of sparkle on the snowflakes. I set that aside to dry and started the die cutting.

 

I cut the fawns in a baked brown sugar cardstock (medium brown) and did a bit of sponging for some contrast.  The tree branch is cut in the early espresso shade, the ornament in so saffron and the birds in cherry cobbler.

What I have learned doing color challenges is that you don't have to emphasize all colors equally.  And, neutral colors like white, brown gray etc. help to balance the other colors.

Step 3: Next I cut a snowbank for my fawns to stand on. I used glitter glue and chunky glitter to give a bit of sparkle to the top of the bank.

I stamped my sentiment in early espresso ink. I love this rich brown shade of ink and it's also another way to incorporate the colors from the challenge.

Attached the snowbank to the stenciled base with dimensional adhesive.

Once that was in place I began attaching the images. I used a combination of dimensional adhesive and glue dots. I decided I didn't want a yellow bird so I changed it out to both in the cherry cobbler color. Used some light yellow metallic glue dots for a little added bling. Again, another way to get the challenge colors onto my card.

To complete my card, I attached the image panel to the cherry cobbler card base. And, that's it for me for this post. So until next time...….God bless.

 

 die I used to create card:

 

I am also entering:

1.  Kitty Bee Designs has an anything goes w/optional twist of animals.

2.  Winter Wonderland has a Christmas Joy challenge.

3.  Simon Says Wednesday has an anything goes challenge.  

4.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge is anything goes.