You Are Such A Blessing

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's a snowy, blustery day here in Pittsburgh.
This would be the ideal time to be in some place tropical and relaxing on the beach. But, since I am not there, I am sipping on some warm tea & honey and crafting (lol)!!.

And, some good news is that the days are getting longer and the vernal equinox is only 28 days away. That's when the day and night are about equal in length. Soon the tulips will be pushing up. Can't wait to see those since hubby planted about 200 of them.

Well enough of the spring day dream and onto my card for today.

Splitcoaststampers is having a LoveFest Challenge. There are prizes to be won so jump over there and check it out. Info Here.

For this challenge, Korin (owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) provided a sketch for us to use on our cards. 

For this card I used several stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. On the oval I stamped text from the Christmas Light set in crumb cake ink.
Over that I used the wildflowers set and stamped again in crumb cake ink.

My coral flowers are from the "your friendship" set. I stamped in memento tuxedo black and colored with copic markers.

My background designer paper is from the Canvas Corp. I really like the black & kraft look. The striped designer paper is calypso coral from Stampin-Up. The text on the flags is from the "your friendship" set.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  Crafting By Design has an anything goes challenge.
2.  Crafting For All Seasons has a dies/punches challenge.
3.  Fab 'n Funky has a flower power challenge.
4.  Penny's Paper Crafting has an anything goes challenge.
5.  The Perfect Sentiment Blog has a floral fantasia challenge.

Tangerine Birthday

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Doing a quick post today before I leave to pick Ethan (youngest grandson) up at school. His brothers will either be home or at basketball practice.

Tuesday is my day with the grandkids. Great conversations and discussions, homework, after school snacks, dropping off or picking up from basketball practice it's all part of this day. It's precious time that I wouldn't trade for anything because there is nothing like building memories.

Kids grow up so fast. So if you have little ones cherish them. They don't stay that way forever.

My card for today is a bright one for sure. I made it a birthday card because my stash is running low.

The colors for this card came from the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #413.
Vicki was the hostess and she chose tangerine tango, lucky limeade and white.

The layout is from the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge #423.

My background designer paper is from the Stampin-Up "print poetry" collection and the lucky limeade paper is from the "cheerful treat" collection.

My image is from the "fresh vintage" set. Stamped in versamark and then heat embossed in white.
I added some tangerine tango ribbon and some white funky ribbon I found in my stash.

The birthday sentiment is from the MFP set "island life". Well that's it for me today. So until next time.........God bless.

Some other challenges:
1.  Crafty CardMakers has a flowers as main focus challenge.
2.  Creative Creations Challenges has a inspired by a song. Happy Birthday to you.... is always a good one.
3.  Eureka Stamps also has a inspired by a song. Happy Birthday to you.... my voice is getting a workout.
4.  My Craft Spot has a flowers challenge.
 

Heartfelt Sympathy

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit  the Charmed Life Blog. Hope you had a great first day of the week-end. It was cold and snowing off and on here in Pittsburgh. We are expecting more overnight. So it was a perfect day to stay inside and do some crafting. Not that I need an excuse mind you.

Now as I am typing this post i received an email from Splitcoaststampers. I have been chosen as this weeks Featured Stamper. EEK!! What an honor. Jump over here to their site to get the scoop. Hope you can play along. It would be such an honor to me.

Back to this card. I made this for the Spring Virtual Stamp Night on Splitcoaststampers. Our challenge was to make a sympathy card and use a butterfly or bird. I like to have a couple in my stash because you never know when one will be needed.

My card layout is from an older Just-Rite Stampers sketch. I eliminated the ribbon. The background designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "parisian breeze" collection.

Cut my flags with the MFT flagstax die in chocolate chip cardstock then I embossed them. Used the Stampin-Up "fancy fan" and a Sizzix "just my type" folders.

My sympathy sentiment is from Rubber Cottage. I cut it with the Spellbinders labels 4 die in chocolate chip and baja breeze cardstocks.

Well time to close this post. It's late and I have church in the morning. So until next time.......God bless.

Some other challenges:
1.  A Gem of a Challenge wants us to use dies and punches.
2.  Allsorts Blog has a things with wings challenge.
3.  Hiding in my Craft Room has an embossing challenge.
4.  Daring CardMakers has a fly,fly butterfly challenge..

Some Bunny Loves You

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Well another Valentine's Day has come and gone.
My hubby gave me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and some of my favorite candy - "good and plenty". In fact he gave me a 5lb bag of them (lol!!). I will have to limit myself on eating these. Lots of calories and the beach is coming this summer.

Well onto my card for today. It's my day to post on the Great Impressions Blog as part of the design team. I made my first Easter card. I love how it turned out.

My image is from Great Impressions Stamps -E573 "bunny with carrot". I colored with prismacolor pencils and gamsol and also Spectrum Noir markers.

The designer paper is from Stampin-Up's "sunshine and sprinkles" collection. The embossing is from the Cuttlebug "just my type" folder.

I die cut the banners with the MFT "banner day die-namics" and added some rhinestones. The layout is an older MFT sketch MFTWSC96.

My sentiment is also from Great Impressions Stamps - C343 "some bunny loves you". Used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get the placement on 2 lines.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  SCS WTC414 challenge is to use triangles on your card.
2.  SCS is also having a LoveFest challenge. This is for challenge A. Details here.
3.  Raise The Bar has an anything goes.
4.  Cute Card Thursday has an eye for detail challenge. For my card I used the Spellbinders matting basics die to get the layering sizes right and the stamp-a-ma-jig to get the sentiment placed where  I want it.

It's A Girl

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I have returned from San Francisco and my short but sweet visit with my precious granddaughter, Phoenix Daisy.

It was such a wonderful time with her. She has called me 3x already since I returned using the FaceTime feature on IPAD. It's a video call. I love it because she is right there on my screen and I am on hers.
Well it's her parent's IPAD but she certainly knows that she can call me on it. She asked for my cell phone when I was there. She said she wanted to send a text. Mind you she is only 2 years old. She made me laugh for sure.

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Spring VSN on Splitcoaststampers. Misti was our hostess and she wanted us to make a baby card. My onesie die is from MFT.  I will need a baby girl card very soon so this was the perfect challenge for me.
And the soon-to-be Mom has chosen a color scheme of brown and pink. So that determined my challenge colors. My sentiment is from the Verve set "practically perfect".
I die cut a heart with a Spellbinders die in chocolate chip. My designer paper is some Echo Paper from my stash.
I thought is was perfect for a baby girl card. I added some pink ruffled ribbon, twine and more die cut hearts to complete my card.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  Crafting By Design wants us to make a card with a heart but not a valentine.
2.  The Paper Girls wants us to use twine on our projects.
3.  Challenges For Everybody has an anything goes challenge.

Stipple Blossom Birthday

Happy Saturday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I am out in San Francisco visiting with my son, daughter-in-law and of course my precious Phoenix Daisy.  I have been here for 3 days and just enjoying this little 2 year old immensely.

She does wear me out though with her boundless energy. I am only here for a couple of more days  and then I head back to Pittsburgh. I left my hubby behind on this trip to take care of things on the home front.

I partially set up the post before I left by uploading my photo only. Knowing that I would finish them here when I had a chance. Well my son took my daughter-in-law on a date tonight and I am babysitting Phoenix. She is fast asleep right now.

The card I am showing today was made for the virtual stamp night challenge on Splitcoaststampers. Marilyn was our hostess and she wanted us to use flowers on our cards and also something new. Get details here. 

I used a brand new (to me) stamp set from Stampin-Up - "stippled blossoms".  The flowers are stamped in pale plum and rich razzleberry inks. My leaves are stamped in celery and gumball green inks. I fussy cut them and popped up on dimensionals.

I embossed the background very vanilla layer with the Stampin-Up tulips embossing folder. The happy birthday sentiment is from the Stampin-Up set "party this way".  Added a bow made with very vanilla ribbon and a rich razzleberry button to complete my card.

My card inspiration came from my design team sister, Karen Barber. She posted this card for the color challenge 402.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  Brown Sugar has an anything goes challenge.
2.  Creative Moments Bloggers Network has a buttons & bows challenge.
3.  Penny's Paper Crafty has a ribbons and bows challenge.

You Brighten My Day

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. As you read this post i am out in San Francisco with my precious granddaughter Phoenix Daisy and of course her parents (lol)!! I left my hubby home to hold down the fort while I am gone. this is a short visit and I will be back on Tuesday night.

Today is my day to post on the Great Impressions Stamps Blog as part of the design team. For my card I used several Great Impressions Stamps.

The background stamp in the oval is J106 "the rose". I used crumb cake ink and stamped off first to lighten up the words. I then used H186 "Queens Ann's Lace" and stamped over the background words also in crumb cake ink.


I used a Spellbinder oval to cut and layered that over another Spellbinders Label 18 die cut from kraft cardstock. My background paper is from Canvas Corp -chocolate and kraft mini dots. I used some burlap that I had in my stash.

My sentiment is A127 "You Brighten My Day". Well that's it for me for today. Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend. Until next time..........God bless.

Thank You Julia

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I don't know about you, but I am not a person that likes change. I deal with it as we all have to but, it's not real easy. My bff is moving to Virginia in a couple of months. It's good for her and her hubby since they will be 15 minutes from their family.
We befriended a young couple from church when they moved to Pittsburgh 7 years ago. They had no family here so we became the Pittsburgh Mom & Dad. Then a job transfer came up and they had to move to Nevada. Again it was good for them because Ruben will be teaching a the University of Nevada and doing research. It's what he wanted.

Then the design team that I am on at Splitcoaststampers had a change just this week. My friend Julia Aston (aka artystamper) decided to leave because of other commitments. Again I totally understand, but I will miss her.

So for the color challenge this week we dedicated it to Julia. See the post here. Karen was our hostess and she chose a neutral palette in honor of Julia with basic black, very vanilla and crumb cake (kraft).

For my card I chose the Stampin-Up set “natures silhouettes”. I stamped it in crumb cake ink on to very vanilla cardstock. Used a Spellbinders oval die to cut it and layered it on a Spellbinder labels 18 die cut in kraft card stock.

On my card base I used the Sizzix embossing folder “scrollwork”. My sentiment is from the Stampin-Up set “blooming with kindness”.

I added some May Arts mesh ribbon and layered Stampin-Up’s 5/8” very vanilla grosgrain over that.

My bow is very vanilla ¼” grosgrain ribbon with a black rhinestone center.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  Creative Belli wants us to use rhinestones. Found these black ones in my stash. 2.  Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge is ribbons & bows. 3.  Loves Rubber Stamps has an anything goes challenge.

Bandit of Love

Happy Sunday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Are you familiar with the tradition of  Punxsutawney Phil? The groundhog from Pennsylvania who comes out of his dwelling at Gobbler's Knob every February 2. 
He didn't see his shadow yesterday. So according to folklore, it's an early spring.

Punxsutawney is about 65 miles northeast of where I live. The town gets about 15,000 visitors on Groundhog Day. After the Bill Murray movie "GroundHog Day" they had upwards of 30,000 visitors.

All I can say is that it was really frigid here today. With temps at 9° this morning. We had snow on and off all day. Probably about 3" is on the ground right now. More is expected tomorrow.

So an early spring would be nice. But, that's in the Lord's hands fortunately. Punsutawney Phil is a media event but not who I depend on for my weather report (lol)!!!

Anyway, onto my card for today. This one I created for the new monthly challenge on the Great Impressions Blog. It's all about hearts. The prize would be the chance to guest design in April. Sound like fun?? Well you can't win if you don't play.

For my card I used the Great Impressions Stamp "Smokey the love bandit G478". Isn't he just the cutest thing? I colored him with markers and a blender pen. I fussy cut him and layered on a Spellbinders lacy circle die cut.

The sentiment is "bandit of love B230". You could use this either for kids or an adult. I am giving this one to my hubby for Valentine's Day.

My card layout is the current de-constructed sketch #87.

My card base is black and then I used another piece of black and put it through my heart paper crimper and rounded the corners.

My pennant flags are cut from real red designer paper and I layered licorice twine over them and a heart brad in the corner.

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

Some other challenges:
1.  Allsorts has a "let's get cute" challenge.
2.  Drunken Stampers has a groundhog day challenge. You can use a furry animal.
3.  Hiding in my Craft Room has a red challenge.
4.  My Time To Craft has a love is in the air challenge.

Said The Butterfly

Happy February 1 and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I have had 2 great days catching up with friends over dinner then lunch. I get together with five women that I worked with for 30 years several times a year for dinner. We did that Wednesday night at a local restaurant.

Then Thursday I went to lunch with a few other church friends at a local tea house-Bellas House of Tea. We see each other every Sunday but don't necessarily get to talk after church.

It was my first visit to the tea house and I just loved the Victorian style decorations. She had lots of antiques, several gorgeous wood mantles and her dishes and tea cups were so beautiful.

It would be a lovely place for a bridal shower or a women's luncheon. She mentioned that she does a lot of them. And, the lunch was delicious as well.

Now onto my card for today. This one I posted on the Great Impressions Blog since it's Friday and my day as design team member.

My sentiment is from the Great Impressions Stamp - "said the butterfly E149". Used a Spellbinders rectangle die and sponged with pool party ink while it was still in the die.

My layout is from this week's sketch #421 on Splitcoaststampers.

Used the Spellbinders matting basics A & B dies to cut my pool party background and the "autumn spice" designer paper. I love the vintage look of this paper.

I used more pool party designer paper & card stock for the long rectangle layer.

The pennant flags are cut from soft suede card stock and designer paper. I added some cotton lace over this layer.

Punched some butterflies in soft suede and added a few pearls to complete my card. well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.

Some other challenges:
1.  It's All About Vintage has a lace and pearls challenge.
2.  Moving Along With The Times has a punch it out challenge.
3.  Paper Crafting Journey has a "for a girl" challenge.
4.  Lady Anne's challenge is anything goes.