I wanted to stop in really quickly to wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!!!

We're heading to a friends house to ring in the new year. I ask you, is there anything better than ringing in the new year with family and friends? :)

Got a quick card to share for the Waltzing Mouse sketch challenge and the Curtain Call color challenge.


I tried my hand at a fan fold flower - there's a video tutorial HERE. I've seen these beauties cropping up all over the place so it was about time to give it a go :)


Thanks so much for stopping by!

***Addendum - Wendy (at Created by Wendy) has a FANTASTIC Twinery give away! Check it out HERE!!! Today is the final day to enter.***

TTFN,
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Ingredients 
Stamps: Delightful dahlia-sentiment (PTI)
Ink: Dark chocolate
Paper: Spring moss (PTI), Colorbok DP
Other: Apron lace border punch (Fiskars), white button (PTI), Sizzlits tag dies, spring moss ribbon (PTI)

I've been on a creative streak lately - we have a vacation week at work so I'm making the most of it I guess :) I've heard it mentioned by other bloggers that stamping and creating can be so therapeutic and I have to say I whole-heartedly agree. I miss our sweet girl so much, but each day that passes things get a little better, and stamping has helped me ease the lonely feeling at home.

I've got another one of my therapeutic cards to share :) This one is for Mona's CR84FN challenge;

I love these color combos - it allows me to design a card with a color "pop" :) So much fun!!!

This is what I came up with;


The "love" sentiment is from DeNami Design and I absolutely ADORE it!!! Such a pretty script! I also used Heart Prints (PTI) as well as an oldie, but a goodie, Garden of Life (also from PTI).  I stamped "love" in versamark, used Sticky Stuff and adhered some black glitter. This is my first time using Sticky Stuff and I really like it!! Glue pads don't work as well to adhere the glitter in my experience but this stuff kicked butt! Hope you like it :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 TTFN,
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Ingredients
Stamps: Love script (DeNami), Heart prints (PTI), Garden of life (PTI)
Ink: Versamark, Smokey Shadow (PTI)
Paper: True black, hibiscus burst, white (all PTI)
Other: Hibiscus burst satin ribbon, black glitter (Martha Stewart), clear embossing powder, Sticky stuff (Judikins), true black and white buttons (PTI), twine (PTI)

I'm still so just over the moon about my new DT appointment with DeNami Design!!! When Paulina emailed me (and she is just the sweetest person ever, by the way :)), I was totally surprised and completely honored! Here I am now, with my first contribution to the DeNami DT - YAY!!!

It's an enormously exciting time over at DeNami Design!!! Brand, spankin' new releases, to be exact! Today, we have...

I used DeNami's N134 Teeny Heart Background and E132 Small Heart Outline.  The teeny heart background was stamped in white on the dark red cardstock base. Then I stamped the teeny heart background in dark red on white cardstock from DeNami. I stamped the small heart outline on dark red felt in white Stazon then cut it out. I colored two thickers with Copics to match the dark red and mounted them on the white cardstock.

This final card features yet another new DeNami release, the K85 Heart Border. 

I used a previously released stamp, K38 Love Script, as well as K85 Heart Border. I stamped the original heart border and the word "love" in dark pink ink, then stamped off again two times to get a ghosting effect. I colored in the hearts with Spica pens to give it a subtle glitterly look. I used DeNami White and Magenta cardstock as well as DeNami 3/8" pink grosgrain ribbon. Isn't that sweet little heart border just the best?!?!
Here's a closer look at the little heart border... So many possibilities....


That's it for me but it's not even close to the end of the festivities! Make sure you visit Laurie's blog for some more fabulous DeNami Valentine sneak peaks!
If you haven't been by the DeNami blog yet, Paulina posted a couple of fabulous videos HERE highlighting a few of the new releases! Tune in to the DeNami blog for more exciting new releases throughout the week as well as GIVEAWAYS (yep, FREE STUFF!!!) on Friday, Dec 31st!!!.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,
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Ingredients:
Heart Petit Four Card
Stamps: PF43 Hearts petit four four, F42 Love Sentiments petit four, and N134 Teeny Heart Background (all DeNami)
Ink: Dark chocolate (PTI), berry sorbet (PTI), Versamark
Paper: Dark chocolate (PTI), berry sorbet (PTI), kraft
Other: Chocolate brown grosgrain (DeNami), Nestabilites circles, Linen impression plate (PTI), clear embossing powder


I {heart} U Card
Stamps:  N134 Teeny Heart Background, E132 Small Heart Outline (all DeNami)

While blurking this morning, I came across a new (to me :)) sketch challenge at Skipping Stones Design. I love the CAS design :)
Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,
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Ingredients
Stamps: Merry little Christmas (PTI), Pond life - sentiment (PTI), Bird stamp and punch set (Martha Stewart)
Ink: Enchanted evening (PTI), Versamark, Faded denim distress ink (Ranger)
Paper: Scarlet jewel (PTI), fine linen (PTI), enchanted evening (PTI)
Other: Wood grain impression plate (PTI), banner die (PTI), clear embossing powder

To all my friends in blogland, Merry Christmas!!!! I hope you have time to enjoy special holiday festivities with family and friends!

We've had a wonderful Christmas Day so far - my MIL, FIL and BIL were able to join us here in TN for a fun, family-filled Christmas Day :) On top of that, this morning we video conferenced with my sister in PEI, Canada and my parents in NL, Canada. We all gathered round our respective trees and opened presents together! It was almost as good as being all together in one place :) Ain't technology grand?

Thought I'd stop in and share a few simple Christmas tags I made to place on gifts for coworkers. One of my sweet blog friends, Tanny, shared pics of cookies from Levain Bakery in NY. She found a copycat recipe for Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies - they looked soooo yummy on her blog that I had to give 'em a try for myself! I found a copycat recipe HERE and baked away. They turned out wonderfully - silly me, I didn't take a picture though! DOH! I made a few batches and packed them up for coworkers. They all seemed to enjoy them - thanks Tanny for the inspiration!

 TTFN,
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Wreath for all seasons, Friendship jar holiday fillers, holly jolly
Ink: New leaf, lady bug (Memento)
Paper: white, spring moss
Other: red Stickles, PTI tag die, PTI banner die, ribbon from stash

Hi all. It's been a bit quiet here on the ol' blog'o lately.

Last weekend, we said good-bye to Freya, one of our golden retrievers. I won't go into too much detail as the pain and loneliness are still quite raw but she developed a gastric dilatation and volvulus or "twisted stomach". We thought we caught it early and she was actually in pretty good shape for surgery... but under anesthesia she developed an unresponsive rapid heart beat and profoundly low blood pressure. Many people worked on her (and to those folks, I am forever grateful) but she just never responded to intensive treatment. Long story short, she never recovered from anesthesia.  We got to say good-bye and be there when she left, and for that I am glad.
I couldn't face writing about it until now - there's a huge, painful void left in our hearts and home. But as time passes, hopefully the happy memories will outweigh the sadness of recent events. She was a WONDERFUL companion and friend. She came to us from an abusive home 4 1/2 years ago - and despite her lot in life, she had a beautiful spirit and absolute kindness towards people and animals (with the exception of squirrels - LOL!). She had a gusto for life and seemed to enjoy everything from playing fetch with a tennis ball to laying curled up next to her "brother" Spencer. She was a joy every single day and we were completely blessed to have her in our lives.
Here she is, running like the wind. She did that every time she went outside - she absolutely loved it :)

I miss her terribly but when I see this picture, I remember how it always made me smile to see her run like this. I find myself smiling through tears now.... and I think about how fitting that actually is - even though she is gone, she still finds a way to give me joy. Thank you Freya! We will love you always :)

Sorry - I hope I don't depress you all but writing about it, even a little, helps. Letting you all know a little about her is cathartic :)
Thank you, friends :)

I CAN'T believe it! I literally have to pinch myself! OUCH!

But first.... a little card for the Play Date Cafe color splash challenge (love those color splashes!);

Thanks so much for stopping by! TTFN,

Can you believe that Christmas is 2 1/2 weeks away?!?! And I have literally NO shopping done yet! Looks like I'll be hitting Amazon and other online sites for the bulk of it :) I do love this time of year though!

The sketch for this week's Waltzing Mouse sketch challenge is a round one. It stumped me for a bit - I don't make round cards often - I have trouble with shapes other than rectangles I guess LOL! Then I thought I'd make a round tag in the form of the sketch - perfect! I used the Play Date Cafe's colors for inspiration. I love the colors they chose - simple red and white!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
TTFN,
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Peaceful Poinsettia, Holly jolly -sentiment
Ink: Lady bug (Memento), Tuxedo black (Memento)
Paper: Red and White cardstock from DeNami design
Other: Gold glitter, nesties, swiss dots EF (Cuttlebug), holly IP, Sizzlits tags, pure poppy ribbon, seam binding, Copics

The base cardstock is actually grey but it does look black in the photo. A fun, simple card - I love when a stamp set can be used for so many purposes like this Turning a New Leaf set from PTI :) This card would certainly be easy to mail too giving that it's quite flat. It could also easily be a single layer card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
TTFN,
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Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated): 
Stamps: Turning a new leaf, Stocking prints, Fillable frames #10
Ink: Bamboo leaf (Memento), Lady bug (Memento), Smokey shadow
Paper: White, pure poppy, smokey shadow
Other: Red craft thread, corner chomper

I have long admired the very talented Mona Pendleton - if you haven't seen her jaw-dropping creations, swing by her blog, Cupcake's Creations :) There's constant eye candy and positively inspiring creations! Not only is she one of the most talented paper crafters in blogland, she is one of the nicest people ever!
When I first saw she was starting her very own challenges, I couldn't wait to play along! Her color challenges, dubbed CR84FN (Create for Fun), are such a wonderful, inspiring blend of deliciousness and always get the creative juices flowing :) Sorry for the food references, I just had the yummiest Thai and, well, it's on my mind :D
Another wonderful thing about her challenges - she randomly selects a winner each week that is invited back to be guest designer! Any given player has an opportunity! Imagine my excitement when I realized that I had been chosen to be this week's guest designer for CR84FN6!!!

So without further adieu, Mona's magnificent color selection this week;

The blooms in the gorgeous photo are so completely inspiring, but being the season that it is, I turned it into a non-traditional Christmas color scheme. *Sigh* - those colors are just so darn pretty!

I actually made two cards; a variation of the same card really, just with the colors used in slightly different ways :)





So a huge thanks to sweet Mona for the opportunity to guest design! I had so much fun making these cards and will likely make more. I'm kinda taken with the big sparkly snowflakes!

If you haven't already, swing by Mona's blog and check out the deets for CR84FN6 and be sure to play along!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 Have a goodie folks!!!