HYCCT ~Hope~

 

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I woke up to snow on the grassy areas and on the roofs. It was a perfect day for me to stay inside and get my home prepared for my stamping group.

 

They will be coming tomorrow for a fun day of creating. There will be seven of us. We will start our day with lunch and because it's so cold I made some vegetable beef barley soup. Well it's actually cooking now in my crock pot. I will serve it with some crusty bread and two of the women will be bringing dessert. I also will have a cheese platter for starters.

 

We will all be working on our own projects and for me that will be Christmas. I will be anxious to see what everyone else brings to work on. I plan on taking some photos and I will share them here on the blog.

 

Now onto my card for today. This is the 3rd card I made for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. It's a month long challenge with lots of prizes and even better is that you can send off your creations to the UT MD Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Read more about it here.

 

This is my card for Beate's HYCCT1301C challenge. She wants us to create a clean and simple card. One or two layers....no bulky layers or embellishments. Keep it flat.

This wasn't easy for me because I am a multi-layer girl and embellishments girl. But, I have wanted to try the bordered sentiment technique for awhile so this challenge was the perfect opportunity. This technique involves making a border and masking and then stamping your images. I was pleased how this turned out for my first attempt.

My card colors are the new Stampin-Up in-color "strawberry slush" and whisper white. I stamped the images in strawberry slush, pink pirouette and old olive inks.

The stamped images are from the secret garden, bliss and flower shop stamp sets. My sentiment is from the "blooming with kindness" set.

I completed my card by adding 3 punched butterflies and kept them flat for this challenge.

 

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

 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafty Hands Challenge blog is brand new and starting with an anything goes.

2.  Sister Act Card Challenge is also anything goes.

Hope You Can Cling To Challenge

 

Happy Thursday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. We  had an early taste of winter today with some snow showers. After a frost tonight the last of our flowers will be gone.

 

This weekend the fall leaves in our area will be at peak according to the weatherman. I just haven't seen the spectacular colors as in other years. A lot of the trees in our neighborhood still have green leaves. Maybe they will just drop off before they actually turn colors. Time to prepare for winter I suppose.

 

Now onto my card for today. I made this one for the 4th annual "Hope You Can Cling To Challenge" on Splitcoaststampers. Check it out here if you want more info on what's going on with this challenge. 

 

There are lots of prizes to be won and the cards can be mailed to a cancer center in Houston Texas. I sent all the cards I made last year. It felt good sending them off to a place where the patients would have access to them.

One of them even sent a thank you note to Splitcoaststampers. You can read that here.

 

Lori was our hostess for this challenge and she wanted us to create a card that shares courage and strength with either the color red or orange or a mixture of both. I chose just the red.

My card colors are Stampin-Up's riding hood red and basic gray. The background designer paper is from the  Stampin-Up "fan fair" collection.

On my tilted gray panel I used the Stampin-Up "fancy fan" embossing folder. I cut my flag with the MFT flag stax die.

Used the Spellbinders circle dies and stamped my sentiment. I don't know who makes this set. Received from a friend without a label.

To complete my card I added some red metal heads and gray rhinestones. Well it's late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time......God bless.

I am also entering:
1.  Crafty Little Fairies has an anything goes challenge.
2.  Inkspirational has an anything goes challenge.
3.  Lady Anne's Challenge is anything goes.
4.  Rhedd & Rosie Challenge blog has an anything goes.
5.  Word Art Wednesday has an anything goes and uses an uplifting sentiment.

 

 

 

 

 

~holiday nutcracker~

 

 

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life blog. I have been back from San Francisco for a week now and still dealing with the 3 hour time difference. I am not tired when it would be a normal bed time for me and end up staying up until 2:00 am. Then I have trouble getting up in the morning.

 

But, as I sit here typing up this post, I am very tired and its 8:00 pm. I will be in bed early tonight and then back on East Coast time finally.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #447 on Splitcoaststampers. Becky was our hostess and she chose the color palette of real red, chocolate chip and Bermuda bay. She also wanted us to use a die cut.

 

This is also the first card I made for the HYCCT challenges on Splitcoaststampers. Check it out here. This was Kathy's challenge and she wanted us to use a die cut.

 

My card is using the Stamplistic stamp "snowflake nutcracker". I paper pieced his outfit in the challenge colors. Colored his face and hair with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. This image involves a lot of fussy cutting. Don't know if I will make any more cards for Christmas using this image. It's so much easier to use a die for cutting.

My layout is this week's MojoMonday sketch #314. I made a 5 x 7 size card- to accommodate the size of my nutcracker. 

My background designer paper is from the Stampin-Up "jolly holiday" collection. I was able to use some satin ribbon which is one of my favorite embellishments on a card.

The holiday sentiment is from the Echo Park. It is an element sticker from the Echo Park "very merry Christmas collection".

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

I am also entering:
1.  Simon Says Stamp has a Christmas/Holiday challenge.
2.  ABC Challenge is a 3-2-1. 3 shapes-2 pattern papers -1 ribbon.
3.  Bunny Zoe's Crafts has a ribbon challenge.
4.  Craft-Dee-BowZ has an anything goes challenge with a handmade bow.
5.  Perfectly Rustics has a pattern paper challenge.
 

autumn window

 

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. My day started today at a memorial service for my niece's mother-in-law. The Pastor did a wonderful job with the service. He relayed many pleasant memories. My niece already sent me an email thanking us for coming out today.

 

Then this afternoon we went to pay our respects to a friend who lost her Mom and best friend. Sharon shared many good memories of her Mom with us.

It's never easy going to a funeral home, but I have learned over the years that the people affected by the loss really appreciate you coming. You don't have to say much. They want to talk and share their memories. You are just the listener.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for the color challenge #446. I was the hostess and the color trio I chose was summer starfruit, soft suede and cajun craze. I also included in the challenge an option of making a bow treatment.

 

 

I created a window scene this week using the Grand Madison window die.

The outside "brick wall" was created using the Time Holtz embossing folder-"brick wall".

My inside walls are summer starfruit designer paper from the Stampin-Up "patio party" collection and for the bottom of the wall I used the Stampin-Up  stripes embossing folder.
My valance is cut with a Cheery Lynn Designs die in cajun craze.

For my wreath I used the Stampin-Up set “autumn days”. I stamped the leaves in cajun craze and a few in summer starfruit and then fussy cut. I hung the wreath with summer starfruit ribbon.

The grand window box is cut with a die from Poppy Stamps in cajun craze. I used some old Stampin-Up rub-ons for my sentiment. Added a few leaves here to complete my card.

I have another Thanksgiving card done now. I have a few more to make and then I will start my Christmas card frenzy.

 

Well, it's time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So unti lnext time.......God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1. Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenges has an autumn challenge.

2. Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe challenge is autumn leaves.

3. Sister Act Card Challenge has an anything goes.

4. Stampin' For the Weekend has an anything goes challenge.

5. Stuck on you sketches has a die cut challenge with an autumn theme.

6. Really Reasonable Ribbon has an autumn leaves and ribbon challenge.

 

~give thanks~

 

 

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I spent my day crafting although I didn't get too far (lol). I only was able to make 2 cards. The first one took me so long then I stopped to make dinner and started another after dinner.

 

I guess it didn't help that I didn't get up until 10:00 am. I am still running on California time which is 3 hrs. behind Pittsburgh. I usually have trouble when I come West to East. It will take a few days to get my body back in rhythm with the EST zone.

 

So anyway onto this card. It's another Thanksgiving card and I really like how it turned out. My card is a long one and something I don't do often but I like.  The size is 3.5 x 8.25. It will fit in a #10 size business envelope.

I made it for the WT challenge #446 on Splitcoaststampers.  Toni was our hostess and she challenged us to use squares on our card. I used one for my sentiment.

On the card I did some up-cycling. I had an old calendar that I saved for this very purpose. The month of November had images that I liked.

The acorn panel is cut and layered on more mustard cardstock.

I stamped my sentiment on the square panel from the Verve set "bountiful harvest" and the pumpkins are cut out from the same calendar.

I finished my card by adding a bordered edge and it was cut from the Verve "scallop trio" dies. I again used the calendar to get my blue edge to match the rest of the card. I plan on giving this to a neighbor who loves re-purposing things.

 

Well, it's late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time........God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1. Crafting By Designs has an anything goes challenge.

2. Crafting With Dragonflies has a theme of nature/leaves/trees.

3. Divas By Design has an autumn colors challenge.

4. Penny's Paper-Crafty has an anything goes challenge.

5. Sisterhood of Crafters has an anything goes challenge.

 



~autumn leaves~

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I have been a bit quiet in the past 9 days, but for good reason. I have been out in San Francisco with my sweet 2 1/2 yr old granddaughter, Phoenix Daisy. My son and daughter in law went away for a few days and I was taking care of her. She loves to talk and play non-stop and she just wore me out most days. So when she went to bed I was right behind her. 

I had cards created to post to my blog, but the write-up was required and I just couldn't do it at the end of the day. And she wasn't about to take a nap when Grandma was there so I had no free time in the afternoon. But, I live being with her and enjoyed every minute we had together.

I am typing this post up at 33,000 ft on the plane back to Pittsburgh.

I treated myself to the Go-Go internet option on USAirways. The first leg of the flight is 5hrs To Charlotte and then another hour to Pittsburgh. You can only read for so long(lol)!!!

Now onto my card for today. This one is another Thanksgiving card. I was happy with how it turned out. I really like the Stampin-Up leaf image I used. 

I made this for the Viva la Verve week 3 sketch. Jen was our hostess and she provided a layout plus an inspiration photo for us to use.

I picked up on the colors in the photo and went with choc chip, crushed curry and old olive. For the bark I used some Stampin-Up designer paper that has a wood theme.

Instead of flowers, I went for a fall theme with leaves. On my oval panel I used the images from the stamp set for a background. My 2other leaves are stamped and then fussy cut. On my yellow panel, I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder "autumn type" for some interest and texture.

To complete my card I added some choc chip ribbon. Well it's time to put the wraps on this post before my internet time is over.

So until next time God bless.

~A true friend~

 

 

 

Happy Friday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Started my Friday off at the fitness center.

 

I am seeing the results of my efforts paying off. My trainer has me doing strength training and the biggest result there is with my left wrist. I had trouble lifting anything with my left hand and since I have been working with weights the strength has returned in the wrist area.

 

am so excited about that. Can't wait to see what other changes happen in the next few months.

 

Now onto my card for today. This is another one I made for the Viva la Verve challenge. Julee was the hostess for this one and of course she provided an awesome sketch to work into a card.

 

I wanted to make a card for my bff who moved to Virginia a few months ago. She is so supportive of me and always has my back. The sentiment on this card so describes her.

 

I used the Verve stamp set "hundred hearts" for the sentiment inside the primrose petals heart. This heart came as part of the More Amore designer paper from Stampin-Up.

The vertical rectangle panel is using the More Amore designer paper . I layered it with primrose petals cardstock. The horizontal rectangle panel is pool party designer paper .

To complete my card I added some rhinestone flourishes. Well, that's it for me for today so until next time........God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafty Catz has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Sister Act Card Challenge has an anything goes.

3.  Hanna and Friends has a best friends challenge.

4. Creative Craft Challenges has an anything goes.

~Friendship~

 

Happy Thursday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I took my cards to the boutique that is showing and selling them for me. They are there on consignment, which is fine with me. I have so many cards and selling them is a great option for me. I should probably check into setting up an Etsy shop as well. Something to put on a to do list for me.

 

This evening I met my friend, Jodi for dinner at a new restaurant that opened in our area -the RumFish Beach. We had some great conversation, food and an evening out together.

 

We both tried Hawaiian Ono fish. It's a white, meaty fish and I had mine served with a red pepper cream sauce, fingerling potatoes and roasted cauliflower.

 

It was such a delicious meal and our service was wonderful. The waitress let us talk and didn't bring our bill until we asked her for it. How many restaurants do that these days?

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the Viva la verve challenges on Splitcoaststampers. This was the week 4 sketch provided by the hostess Charmaine.  

 

I used the Verve set "text objects" and stamped the sentiment in the Verve classy label die. Stamped the boat image and then paper pieced the boat.

My background designer paper is from the SU collection "print poetry". The colors are raspberry ripple, primrose petals and summer starfruit. So that's the colors I went with for my card.

I added some texture to the bottom of my card with the Stampin-Up embossing folder "basket weave". To complete the card and sketch I added some primrose petals ribbon with a vintage brad center.

 

That's my card for today. Hope you are able to get some stamping time in this weekend. I am planning a stamping marathon-hopefully!!

 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafty Little Fairies has a bows and brads challenge.

2.  Crafty Ribbons has an anything goes with ribbon.

3.  ABC Challenge has a "W" for words challenge.

A Christmas Village

 

Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Today was just one of those days that I was busy all day but lots of little things.

 

This morning I took my friend to get her first colonoscopy. She wasn't nervous in the least but was glad once it was over.

 

I returned home around 1:00 pm and started on getting some cards together to take to the boutique that is selling them for me. I just purchased a new card display from Amazon. It took me until dinner time to get the cards ready and in plastic bags and priced. I never made it to the store today. That will be for tomorrow after the pre-school class is over.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made with some new dies that I purchased from PaperTrey ink. I like how this one turned out so I will probably make a few more of these. bought this set because of this card created by Debbie Olson. I changed colors and added a layer to make it my own.

 

I joined in the Splitcoaststampers inspiration challenge #407 and the site we used as our inspiration was Eastern Accents. Its a site filled with lots of home décor items. I chose the Christmas village pillow as my inspiration piece.  

I decided to go with a sahara sand layer and matching designer paper  to pick up the colors in the pillow. But, that would be too drab for me as a Christmas card so I added colors.

My houses and church are stamped in choc chip, real red, old olive and teal. I used the matching dies to cut them out.

I die cut my snow banks in white, stamped my sentiment and added ribbon treatment with a snowflake center. Bought this ribbon a couple of years ago and never used it until today.

 

Well, it's late and time to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time........God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1.  Crafting By Designs has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Fab 'n Funky has a ribbon challenge.

3.  Penny's Paper-Crafty has an anything goes challenge.

4.  Inky Chicks wants us to use 2 different die cuts. My houses and snow banks are     dies.

5.  Loves Rubberstamps has an anything goes challenge.

6.  Through The Craft Room Door has an anything goes challenge.  

 



chalkboard birthday

 

 

Happy Tuesday and thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Today was my day at the pre-school. I had mentioned in a previous post that I was volunteering there.

 

The children are already starting to get accustomed to the routine. On check-in they look for their wooden clip to put it on their picture and then they use the had sanitizer on their hands.

 

One of their lessons this week is about fall leaves. I die cut some Spellbinder maple leaves and they painted them today. We are going to hang them up for open-house next week.

 

I guess you can tell this is fun for me. I am getting to use my crafting supplies for something other than card making. I am also going to decorate the entryway for the fall season.

 

Now onto my card for today. I really like doing the chalkboard technique and this stamp is so perfect for the technique.

 

I made this one for the color challenge #445 on Splitcoaststampers. Peggy was our hostess and she wanted us to use gumball green, smoky slate and white for our colors. The optional item was to use the chalkboard technique.

 

I used the Stampin-Up stamp “woo hoo” for my chalkboard design. Stamped in white craft ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I then took a sponge and lightly sponged white die ink for the chalkboard dust.

My designer paper is from the Stampin-Up  “eastern elegance” collection. My doily is cut in smoky slate with the Cheery Lynn Designs die “Polynesian sails”.

I cut my birthday word with the PTI birthday die. Added some lace and a few punched hearts to complete my card.

 

As I finish this post we are celebrating here in Pittsburgh. Our Pirates baseball team just won the wildcard game and we move on to St Louis for the first round of playoffs. First time since 1992 that our team has been in the playoffs.

 

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

 

I am also entering:

1.  Craftin' Desert Diva's have an anything goes with a sentiment challenge.

2.  613 Avenue Create has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Challenges 4 Everybody has an anything goes challenge.

4.  Cheery Lynn Designs has a lace challenge.

5.  Paper Players has a tic-tac-toe challenge. I used ribbon-patterned paper-birthday.