Hello all. Time for another Raspberry Suite Challenge (#17). How gorgeous are these colors!?!?! Fun! Those inspiration fabrics are GORGEOUS. Dawn can certainly pick colors. I had an idea in mind when I sat down to start creating and it flew out the window - I tried piecing the original idea together and the more I tried the less I wanted to make it. So I ditched plan A and, voila, plan B.... The patterned paper is from s.e.i. - love, love, love it! The stamp image is from Impression Obsession. I saw it in my local scapbook store and fell in love. There are a lot of really nice images. I may be a bit behind the eight ball in just discovering them now, but boy, am I glad I did. I'm sure there'll be more in my future :) I colored the image with my copics. I also added white Martha Stewart glitter to the foam and marshmallows, for an extra little something. You can really see the glitter on the pretty paper in this pic too. I will likely be replicating this one as it was so much fun to put together. Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look! TTFN, ------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise stated): Stamps: Impression Obsession, snowflake serenade Ink: Vintage cream, dark chocolate Paper: Dark chocolate, pure poppy, kraft, vintage cream, s.e.i. flurry kisses Other: fiskars border punch, dark chocolate twill, white glitter (Martha Stewart), pure poppy button, twine, nesties, copics

Wow - a Mojo Monday sketch card completed on Tues... not sure how I finagled that :) Double wow - I had a hard time with this sketch - not sure why... Just didn't want to come together for me. I was gonna give up on it but I felt bad for wasting the materials I had already used. So I stuck it out - for better or for worse :D On the bright side, I did get to ink up Stocking prints from PTI :) I put white fun flock for the stocking topper - bit hard to appreciate on the white cardstock. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! TTFN, --------------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise indicated): Stamps: Stocking prints, merry and bright additions Ink: Scarlet jewel, colorbox white Paper: Scarlet jewel, raspberry fizz, white, DCWAV patterned paper Other: Nesties, raspberry fizz twill, white fun flock, cuttle bug swiss dots EF, clear rhinestones

I just returned home from a very relaxing weekend with my hubby. It was so nice - we rarely go on vacation together as he doesn't get much vacation per year and we tend to spend most of it visiting family (which I do love as well). "Us" time is very important though and I'm glad we made it a priority. If you are in the area, I highly recommend visiting the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. It was lovely. We stayed at the Inn at the Biltmore which was nothing short of fabulous. This was the view from our room - the winery. The Biltmore house itself was amazing - we couldn't take pictures once inside but I managed to snap off a few here and there. Below is a picture of the view from the back of the Biltmore house - AMAZING.... We also visited the Biltmore winery (picture below). We took part in their free wine tasting which was also a very nice experience. Of course, we didn't leave empty-handed :) Caution - if you're hungry, don't read this next part :) After the winery, we ate at the Bistro next to the winery - YUM! I had pecan crusted snapper with pumpkin risoto followed by a wonderful creme brulee. I didn't remember to take a pic of the meal though :( Then it was back to the hotel where we relaxed and watched the sun finish setting. It rained most of the next day but we did manage a trip to the Conservatory in between showers. It was a little out of season, but the flowers that remained outside were still stunning. Then we headed off to spend the night with good friends of ours. It was an excellent time, as always :) We went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with their family - highly recommended as well. Very funny and entertaining for adults and children alike. We had a wonderful time and I always hate to leave :( TTFN,

Quick post for a challenge. I decided to participate in the Crazy 4 Challenges sketch challenge this week. It was a really nice sketch. A nice way to end the weekend too - relaxing in my craft room :) Sorry for the awful picture *sigh*. I inked up Vintage Picnic from PTI (love this set). The sentiment is from the companion set, Vintage Picnic sentiments. As always, thanks so much for stopping to take a look :) I really appreciate your visits and comments! TTFN, --------------------------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise stated): Stamps: Vintage picnic, vintage picnic sentiments, background basics retro Ink: Scarlet jewel, orange burst, dark chocolate Paper: Scarlet jewel, orange burst, white, DCWAV patterned paper Other: white gel pen, orange burst ribbon, white button, rustic twine, cuttlebug EF, corner rounder, copic markers

Quickie post - here's my entry for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #105. Hope everyone's having a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by and looking! TTFN,

I have two cards tonight for two separate challenges - as I write this, it comes to mind that perhaps I should have combined them but I had started the Mojo Monday card a few days earlier and, well, I had time to play - so two cards it was :) My first card is for a My Time To Create Color Challenge from Lauren Meader. I absolutely love the inspiration colors she chose!!! So pretty - I may go back and do a few more cards in these colors. I used the rock and roll technique on the pumpkins. I'd seen a few people use this technique and I love the dimensional effect it creates. My second card is for Mojo Monday #104, I went with a Christmas card, 'cause, let's face it - you can never have enough... I struggled a bit with this card after I decided the colors and theme. It was one of those times I had an image of what I wanted in my head but it didn't translate to paper. In the end, I think it's missing something - as I was looking at my pics of the card, distressing the edges of the DP might have been a nice touch to give it a bit more umph... I also altered the design a little due to technical difficulties :) Ah, well.... Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look! TTFN, ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise stated) MTTCCC card: Stamps: Autumn tags Paper: Sei DP, dark chocolate, ripe avacado, rustic white, DCWAV textured cardstock Ink: ripe avacado, dark chocolate, memento dye ink (potters clay), colorbox pigment ink Other: dimensionals, nesties, twine, swiss dots cuttlebug folder, Sei tag, friskars border punch Mojo Monday card: Stamps: Snowfall, Snowflake serenade Paper: New leaf, enchanted evening, DCWAV DP, White Ink: New leaf, enchanted evening, platinum and white colorbox pigment ink Other: Nesties, copic airbrush system, Martha Stewart glitter, palatte glue pad, new leaf buttons, twine, crystal stickles, enchanted evening and new leaf ribbon

Just wanted to share my pirate name from a website,

My pirate name is:

Captain Anne Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com. part of the fidius.org network

A former colleague and friend lost her father this past week. It is so sad- she was close to her dad. As a result, I've been pretty reflective today. I live very far away from my immediate family right now (due to careers). I've worked hard to get a career I love - but, on days like this, it really makes you wonder. Is it really worth it, all for career? Am I doing the right thing? I, too, am close to my dad and these type of events make me acutely aware how fast time is slipping by.... Sorry to wax philosophic... So, I figured I'd make a sympathy card to send our condolences. I used the colors from the My Time to Inspire Challenge hosted this week by Kristen Bueter. And, here's my card.... I absolutely love these colors! I wanted to do a fairly simple card, with not too much adornment, as it will be mailed to eastern Canada. Well, getting ready to visit the PTI forum - it's release night! Take care all. Thanks so much for stopping by! TTFN,

Hello! A quick post to get my card for the latest Mojo Monday challenge. The Christmas season is fast approaching (I can't believe I just said that...) and I need to make a few more cards to send out so I figured I'd make such a card for this challenge. For my card, I picked Cloud Nine DP and built around that. I tried something a bit different - I wanted to use gold embossing powder so I inked up sections of scarlet jewel with versamark and added gold embossing powder. Then I took a stamp and inked it with versamark, stamped over the embossing powder (before I heated it) to leave negative areas. Then I finished by heating. What I didn't realize was how messy the embossing powder would be to clean off my stamps! Oh well, nothing ventured.... I do like the way it turned out though. So here's my card... Thanks so much for stopping by! Comments are always appreciated :) TTFN, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise stated): Stamps: Merry and Bright Additions, Snowflake serenade, polka dot basics Paper: scarlet jewel, kraft, cloud nine DP, white Ink: Versamark, aqua mist, scarlet jewel Other: white ribbon (offray), gold embossing powder, nesties

Had a weird situation arise today... went to Joanne's and as I was checking out, my credit card was declined. My DH and I are careful to pay it off every month and we had also checked the balance days previously so I knew it hadn't exceeded the limit. Weird.... So I call the credit card company and find out that my DH was 5 days late with the payment (a busy weekend and hectic week for him so it's understandable) and they froze our card!!! Only five days - crazy.... Anyway, we had made the payment 2 days prior but it hadn't gone through yet, so hopefully tomorrow. I mean, it's our fault completely but I'd never had that happen - maybe there's too many people with outstanding balances and payments due. Hard economic times... This policy was news to me but good to know from now on out... Anyway, I bought some new DP and a few other supplies such as Perfect Pearls (Aged Patina) while on vacation in VA Labor Day weekend. I couldn't wait to use both and I've got more plans for the Perfect Pearls (plus I'd love to buy a few more colors) :) I just love them - so pretty and a little certainly goes a long way. So I put them to use on a sketch challenge from Lauren Meader. On to my card.... The sketch with the frame screamed vellum window to me. I actually ened up doubling the vellum as one layer was too transparent. I stamped a flower from "Life" on the vellum in versamark then covered with the perfect pearls. I curved the sentiment (love that!) and stamped in scarlet jewel. The rest was pretty simple. It was a fun card to make and I love that new DP :) It's also preview time over at Papertrey ink - some seasonal stamp sets coming up. So exciting :) As always, thanks so much for stopping by! TTFN, -------------------------------------------- Ingredients.... (all PTI unless otherwise stated) Stamps: Life, Scattered showers (sentiment) Paper: Patterned paper (sorry, can't remember and is all the way up in my craftroom :)), ripe avacado, scarlet jewel, DCWAV textured blue cardstock, clear vellum Ink: Scarlet jewel, versamark Other: scarlet jewel buttons, nesties, green perfect pearls, gold brads, green saddle stitch ribbon (Michael's), twine

Hello all! This is my first Mojo Monday challenge! I wanted to make a card to send to Kate McRae. While visiting Jennifer McGuire's site , I saw her post regarding a card drive for this beautiful little girl, Kate, and her family. Kate is 5 years old and is fighting cancer. Jennifer McGuire and a few others (links on her site) are collecting cards to send to the McRae family. Links for donations to the family can also be made through Jennifer's site or through the McRae caring bridge site, prayforkate.com. The layout idea is based on a card by Betsy Veldman. I loved her version. I didn't have black Staz-on so I used Brilliance instead - it doesn't show up extremely well on the acetate so I outline the balloon baskets with black permanent marker. Not ideal by any stretch but had to use what was at hand.... Anywho, here's may card.... Anyway, I'll be thinking of Kate and her family and praying for them. I hope the cards make them feel encouraged and supported :) Take care all. Hug your loved ones and be grateful for everything in your life :) Thanks for visiting and TTFN, ------------------------------------------------- Ingredients (all PTI unless otherwise stated): Paper: vintage cream, ocean tides, raspberry fizz, striped and cloud paper (unsure as the brand has long since been cut off - bad me) Ink: raspberry fizz, black brilliance Stamps: everyday button bits, shapes by design (sentiment) Other: Nesties, embossing folder, clear rhinstones, vintage cream button, twine, raspberry fizz ribbon, paper piercer