The Charmed Life: January 2025

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Be My Valentine

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

Well, we weathered the worst of the freezing temps and snow here in Pittsburgh. For the next 7 days or so we will have temps right at the freezing point and even into the 40° range next Thursday. And the days are getting longer with sunset set right around 5:30 pm.

I can't believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner. I make extra cards and let the guys from church pick one for their wives. They always appreciate me giving them a helping hand.

I am also planning to have my Galentine party. It will be the 3rd year for this and the women that come love the evening together. I am not quite sure of the date yet, but it will probably be around February 21. I was perusing Pinterest the other night looking for some different ideas than what I did the past 2 years. There were some fun game ideas, and I think I am going to do a few of them. Then of course there will be prizes.

Now onto my card for today. This is one of my Valentine cards. These are some non-traditional colors for a Valentine card, but I like how it turned out. I used a bubble gum pink and navy cardstock. My card base is an ivory metallic.

The background hearts are from the Blooming Hearts cutting plate from Taylored Expressions. I cut it out twice- once in navy and then a second time in the pink. I used the die inlay technique and added a few pink hearts.

The large scalloped heart and puppies are a die from CottageCutz. I sponged the heart in a deeper shade of pink ink for some contrast. I used gray and brown cardstocks for the puppies.

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

Card Details:

Paper: : night of navy (Stampin Up), bubble gum pink (Darice), pearl metallic (Recollections)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: pretty in pink

Accessories: Be My Valentine Puppies die (CottageCutz), Blooming Hear cutting plate (Taylored Expressions)

Techniques: Inlaid Die Cuts

I am also entering:

1. Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday challenge is anything goes.

2. I Spy with my Little Eye has a feathers and fur challenge.

3. Little Red Wagon has a feel the love challenge.

4. Simon Says Stamp has a Funny/Punny Challenge.

5. Crafty Animals has an anything goes w/an animal.

Monday, January 20, 2025

Let's Celebrate You

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

It's a holiday here in the US and also inauguration day. We are celebrating the Martin Luther King holiday and also the inauguration of our 47th President. I spent most of the day watching the events on television.

We are in the middle of a deep freeze here in the Pittsburgh area. We had snow overnight, but the plows were out early this morning clearing the roads. The temps are dropping, and it will be -1° tonight. It will get colder as we get into our week. Fortunately, I don't have to go out unless I want to.

Oh, one other thing I did get all of my Christmas decorations put away completely by Saturday. My Valentine decorations are out. I love Christmas and get sad to put them away, so I quickly decorate for the next season.

Now onto my card for today. This one I created using the sketch #1044 from Splitcoaststampers.

For my card I used the contents of the Paper Pumpkin Kit "Hugs from Shelli" to create a masculine birthday card. I have had this kit for a while but not used any of the contents until this card.

This one is already in the mail to my brother who has a January birthday.

I altered the design from the kit instructions. I cut a card base and used it for background designer paper and layered it with pretty peacock cardstock.

Stamped the bird images and the sentiment in pretty peacock ink. Added some ribbon in the same color for added interest. The feather was part of the kit. Even though I added ribbon I felt I stayed with a masculine vibe.

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

Card Details:

Stamps: painted Petals (July 2024 Paper Pumpkin), Hugs from Shelli (May 2019 Paper Pumpkin)

Paper: Very vanilla, Hugs from Shelli PP Kit (Stampin' Up)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: pretty peacock (Stampin' Up)

Accessories: Hugs from Shelli PP Kit (May 2019), Pretty Peacock ribbon (Stampin' Up)

I am also entering:

1. Crafter's Cafe Challenge is anything goes w/option of birthdays.

2. Creative Crafting Uncles has a birthday theme for January.

3. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends is anything goes.

4. Seize the Birthday is anything goes w/option of using something new.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Thinking of You

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

We are already at the mid-point of January. The days are getting longer and that always makes me feel good when I am out and about around 5:00 pm.

I am still taking down my Christmas decorations. Today my goal is to get all the peripheral decorations in all 4 of the downstairs rooms plus my powder room packed and put away. That may not sound like much, but I have a lot placed in each room. Then I will just have my 2 remaining Christmas trees and the outside wreaths. I will continue my progress on each Blog post.

Now onto my card for today. A friend asked me to make a card for her friend who is battling breast cancer.

I used the colors from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #1020. We were to use blueberry bushel, calypso coral and lemon-lime twist for the color trio.

blueberry bushel, calypso coral, lemon-lime twist

I started the card with my background paper. It's a pattern from the Stampin' Up "thoughtful journey" collection. Added a frame around this panel in calypso coral. My hummingbird is cut from the same designer paper, and I ink blended with calypso coral and lemon-lime twist.

For the flowers, I used Bristol smooth cardstock and blended with prize ribbon distress ink which is a very close match for blueberry bushel. The blending brushes allowed me to get a lighter shade. The centers are cut with blueberry bushel cardstock.

Leaves are cut in lemon lime twist cardstock and shaded with the same color ink. Stamped my sentiment in blueberry bushel ink to complete my card.

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

Card Details:

Stamps: Birds of a Feather (PP Kit Oct 2018)

Paper: vanilla, lemon-lime twist, calypso coral, thoughtful journey dsp (Stampin' Up), Bristol smooth (Canson)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: calypso coral./ lemon-lime twist, blueberry bushel (Stampin' Up), prize ribbon distress (Ranger)

Accessories: Garden Birds die, Spring Blooms die, Pierced Wide Rectangle die (CottageCutz)

I am also entering:

1. 2 Sisters on the Blog has an anything goes challenge.

2. Ally's Angels has an anything goes challenge.

3. Beautiful Blossoms Challenge is anything floral goes.

4. Crafty Animals has an anything goes challenge.

5. Critter Crazy Challenge is anything goes.

Monday, January 13, 2025

Happy New Year 2025

Hello Blogger Friends and a happy New Year to you all. Hope the start of the year has been a good one.

I finished up yesterday with the last of my 2024 Christmas cards. I am also in the process of taking all my Christmas decorations down. I made some big headway today. I have 1 of my 3 trees all packed and put away. I took down all the greenery from my kitchen cabinets and china cabinet.

Tomorrow I will go after all the accessories in all the downstairs rooms and possibly the tree I put upstairs. Plus, I have wreaths on my windows that need to come down. I definitely go all out for Christmas and the takedown seems to take so long. I want to get my Valentine decorations up!

Now onto my card for today. I am starting off 2025 with a New Year card. This one I created using the colors from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #1031. I was the hostess and I chose basic white, night of navy and poppy parade for my color trio. Optional was New Years or Something New.

I had both options covered since the designer paper I used was new to me and I created a slimline card.

I started with my background designer paper which is from the Stampin' Up "O Holy Night" collection. It's layered on a basic white card base cut at 81/2" x 4". I thought the paper would work well for a nighttime sky with fireworks.

I cut the buildings with a CottageCutz die in night of navy cardstock, the fireworks (CottageCutz die) in poppy parade and white glitter paper.

The Happy New Year is a die from Impression Obsession cut in poppy parade and I added some Nuvo glitter gloss. The camera didn't pick that up well.

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

Card Details:

Paper: poppy parade, night of navy, thick white, o holy night dsp (Stampin' Up), white glitter paper (Recollections

Paper Size: 8 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Accessories: Fireworks die, City Skyline die (cottageCutz), Happy New Year die (Impression Obsession),

Techniques: slimline card

I am also entering:

1. A Cut Above challenge is anything goes with a die cut and optional of new.

2. Love Those Pretty Patterned Papers Challenge is anything goes with patterned paper.

3. Creative Fingers Challenge is anything goes.

4. Cut It Up Challenge is something new with a die cut. I used new designer paper.

5. Craft Rocket Challenge is something new. I used new designer paper.

Sunday, January 12, 2025

More Christmas Day 4

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

Well, I have finally started to take down my Christmas decorations. It's a slow process for me and I am not in a big hurry to take them down. But today I made headway. I took down one of the 3 trees I put up. Plus, I have Nativity sets in all the rooms, so I wrapped 4 of them and got those put away. That was my goal for today and I accomplished it.

Tomorrow I will set another goal just not sure what yet (lol)!

Now onto my cards for today. This is the last of my 2024 Christmas cards. I was creating for Christmas but neglecting to post on my Blog. These cards all used dies from my CottageCutz collection.

More info on this card here:

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

I am also entering:

1. Girlz Creative Christmas Challenge has a Stars challenge.

2. Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge is anything goes + a mood board for inspiration.

Friday, January 10, 2025

More Christmas Day 3

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

Most of the country is in the middle of a freeze and we are no exception here in Pittsburgh. We are expecting another 3" of snow tonight into tomorrow morning. I had plans to meet my friends for breakfast, but they may be put on hold if we get snow.

Anyway, it's day 3 of showing the Christmas cards I made for 2024. These ones I made using dies from my CottageCutz collection and a die from MFT. I was creating for Christmas but neglecting to post on my Blog.

More info on this card here:

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

I am also entering:

1. Creative Knockouts has a celebrations challenge.

2. Krafty Chicks has a Christmas challenge.

3. Sisterhood of Crafters has a snowflakes challenge.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

More Christmas 2024 -2nd Day

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. It's a cold day in January but the good news is that the days are getting longer.

I haven't taken down my Christmas decorations as yet. It's a labor-intensive job because I decorate every room on my downstairs level. I also put up 3 Christmas trees. So, packing everything so as not to damage any of my decorations just takes time. I go at it very slowly. I will probably start this coming Sunday and take 3-4 days next week to complete.

In the meantime, it's day 2 of showing the Christmas cards I made for 2024. These ones are alternative cards from Stampin' Up Paper Pumpkin Kits. I was creating for Christmas but neglecting to post on my Blog.

More info on this card here

More Info on this card here

More info on this card here

Well, that's it for this post. Stop by again tomorrow for more of Christmas 2024. Until next time.....God bless.

I am also entering:

1. ABC Christmas Challenge has an A for anything goes and a B for a building.

2. Crafty Gals Corner has a "fill in the blank.....Snow.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

More Christmas 2024

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

We have been having snow and very cold weather the past few days. I have shoveling duty because my hubby pulled a calf muscle playing basketball with our son and grandkids last week. It's swollen, sore and he is hobbling around. He has been icing it and our chiropractor told him to wear compression socks and use a cane to walk.

Shoveling is not a chore that I like to do, but we are a team, and you do what you have to do. I woke up this morning to a couple more inches, so I was at it again. Our driveway swings around to the back of our home so it's labor intensive but I did it. Hopefully the snow is done for a few days.

I am showing 5 more of the cards I designed for Christmas. I have been negligent on my Blog and for the next several days I will show all of the cards that I created for Christmas.

More info on this card here.