Mad Libs

Hellooooo.  Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the US and we had a fun day at my place.  Just a small group, my family (hubby, daughter and I) and my dad and brother who came to visit.  It was a nice relaxed day filled with tasty delights.  The brussel sprouts au gratin was a big hit and so was the bourbon pumpkin caramel tart my brother made.  We all had many things we were thankful for of course. After dinner we played some Thanksgiving mad-libs that were super fun.  I originally saw them on Pinterest and found the link to this website- Howdoesshe?  The printables are free and there is tons of other stuff on the website as well, like DIY, crafts, recipes, you name it.  They were pretty funny to read after.  I think it would make a fun thing to keep for a scrapbook page or something too.

So...I wanted to share with you a little thank you gift I made for some of my neighbors.  I made a few loaves of persimmon bread and decorated them and handed them out.  These are an easy way to say I am thankful for you and would also make great neighbor holiday gifts.  Decorating them was super easy.  I used this awesome paper from MME that is great for fall.  I used my new SU! die cut for a large bow.  I simply added my SRM stickers to a tag and tied it on with some twine.  This bow is super impressive, so you don't have to do much else to make it work.

This is my creations for this week's Cut It Up Challenge- a thank you card or thank you gift.  There are tons of other cool projects made by the other gals on the DT.  All you have to do head on over the CIU blog and check it out.  While you are there you can think about what you want to create for the contest. :)

Need a reminder about the rules?  Just make a new project, use a die cut of any kind and link to the CIU blog.  If your entry is picked as the winner you will receive a $5 gift certificate to Digital Delights and an assortment of brads by the Eyelet Outlet.  Pretty cool eh?!

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Feeling Thankful

Er..um...hello?!  Anyone out there?  I have been missing all of you so much, the craft time, the blog browsing, the crafty connections with new friends.   So today, as Thanksgiving in the US is only a few days away, I just wanted to let you all know that that I am thankful for you.  There are so many amazing, talented and kind crafters out there, both men and women.  Those of you that I have been lucky enough to make a connection with, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I value having you in my life even it if is just a quick blog glance (from me to you or vice versa) to a brief moment of support to a full blown friendship.  For those of you that I have yet to connect with, I am thankful in advance and hope that we do get to connect.

While we are talking about thanksgiving, I wanted to share a SUPAH yummy recipe that my family will be making over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Seriously, it is too good to NOT share!  I have to say, I was never really a brussel sprouts fan, but this, I could eat this for breakfast lunch and dinner, so I implore you nay-sayers to give it a try!  Cheese makes anything good right?! ;)  This fantabulous brussel sprouts au gratin recipe can be found here.

Though it is focused on Christmas and not Thanksgiving, I do have a card to share with you today.  I used my brand new Sweet Stamp Shop set Monogram It.  I'll be completely honestly with you, though I love all the stamps in this set, I bought it purely for this deer.  Super trendy and fun and I was imagining stamping it in gold....drooling.  So I did just that, bought it and stamped it in gold.  I LOVE it and want to make more, more, more of this card!  I hope you like it too. :)  And while I am at it, I am going to enter this into a few challenges: Ribbon Carousel Challenge #87- Holidays & Celebrations, CAS Colors & Sketches #52, City Crafter Challenge Blog #186- Decorate it! (though technically not a wreath, it has the feel so I'll play for fun, probably won't technically qualify...) and finally, The Shabby Tea Room #184- Christmas is Coming.

Before you go, can we get back to Thanksgiving for a minute?  For my Question of the Day, I'd love to know what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving (or in general)?  AND/OR what is your favorite holiday recipe (feel free to link up a recipe if you like, I'd love to see it)?  

Thank you all for stopping and I hope your week is wonderful and you find yourselves full of thanks!

BTW- don't forget to come play along in the Cut-it-Up Challenge Blog, we are working on Advent or Countdown Calendars.  The deadline for submission is Wednesday. :)

Want a little cheese with that w[h]ine?!

That was the first thing I did today when I woke up, I started w[h]ining because it was so darn early.  I am talking 2:30 am early...I couldn't sleep.  Call me a w[h]ino if you will, but it is only 11:00 am now and it feels like it should be 3:00 pm (at least!).  So don't blame me if I w[h]ine a little and have some cheese ta' boot!  :) Are you done with my cheesy...er, corny wine jokes?!  Well I certainly am!  however, if you scroll down you can see why it was my opener. :)

Check out this fun card I made from my Newton's Nook Just Say Cheese set.  I just love how cutie-cute-cuterson and punny this set is!  I can hardly stand it!  I started with the little images by stamping and masking, then I colored and highlighted.  As an aside, I have to tell you that my white signo pen was being a pain in the patootie (yes...more whining from me)...grrrr...but it still looks mostly OK.  After working on the image I decided I wanted to go with a rich red cardstock (aka SU! Cherry Cobbler) b/c it looked like a fine red wine that would go so well with the cheese.  Yum!  AND...that combo worked out so I could use this fun washi from Freckled Fawn and my brand new gold ink pad from Encore as well.

The layout for this card was insipred by this week's CAS(E) This Sketch #54.  As always, CAS is pretty hard for me, so I am thrilled when I make it happen.

It has been a few posts since I had a question, not entirely sure if most folks like them or get sick of them but I had a few say they like it, so..... today's Question of the Day is- What does this color combo (Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron(ish) and Gold) make you think of or what kind of creation would you make with this color combo?  OR another option is to tell me your favorite cheese and wine (not whine) combo. 

Happy Tuesday! :)

Home Grown Case Study

Hey ya'll.  You all know I haven't had time to do much lately.  I gotta tell you, the more I don't get to stamp sometimes the harder it gets to get back in the groove.  I've been wanting to create but when I've found myself with a few free moments I've been stuck, not knowing what to create.  Well Ms. Stacey changed that this week.  When I saw this card I was struck by how beautiful those blue leaves were and it inspired me to make my own leaf creation.  So thank you Stacey for inspiring me with your beautiful card!

I've been totally digging the colors in the Allison Kreft recorded collection, especially the ones with all the colors (I used them in my last card post where I paid homage to Cath too).  So I wanted to use that for this card.    I just LOVE the way the leaves look with that patterned paper- YUM!  Truly, my card is straight from "The Book of Stacey" from the layout, to the multiple loops of ribbon and the sequins.   I was going for the signature Stacey Schafer style.  Though not nearly as polished as any of her creations, I think I was in the ballpark. :)

With that, it is about time to share with you the winner of the blog candy from this post.  And the winner is....

Amy Tsuruta who said-

"Darling Mama Elephant card!

Ninja?!!!! That's AWESOME and your costume, very clever:)

100 Grand Bar...mmmm..."
True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:2Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats Amy!  I'll be in touch with you about getting you your prize. :)

Lastly, I am gonna throw this in for a couple of challenges-  Sieze the Sketch #8, Simon Says Stamp- Use Ink Challenge,  The Pink Elephant Fall Challenge, and the Paper Pal Arts Challenge #179 featuring the colors below (plus a few more of my own!).

 

Let the countdown begin!

Howdy-ho folks!  It is Friday, wahoo!  So how's about we have another Cut-it-up Challenge?!  

We are gearing up for the holidays over at CIU!  To celebrate, we decided to work on either a count down or advent calendar.  We invite you to come and play in the challenge with us! 

You know the rules by now, but just in case, here they are: 

1. Follow the CIU blog.2.  Create a *new* project based on the them and use die cuts (any die cut)3.  Link it up to the blog. (Check out the full rules on the CIU blog if you like)


We've got some pretty cool prizes this round.  First we have a $10.00 G.C.to Kadoodle Bug Designs.  AND we have a $25 gift Certificate to Pez-A-Doodle Designs.  A little bit of that lovin' will sure start your holidays off right wouldn't it?! :)

Need a little something to get your mind moving?  Well here is what I made for this challenge.  I altered this craft board that I got at my local craft store.  I covered it in a variety of fabulous paper.  The words, which say "days 'til Christmas" are done in some Amy Tangerine stickers and I brushed them with a darker brown to make them stand out.  The die cut frames are from Stampin' Up! and the numbers are Quickcutz.  I made a double series of the numbers and stored them in that kraft and red striped behind the frames. The numbers are tacked up with some miniature clips (also from SU!).  Finally, I dug up all those tiny various colors or ribbon scraps that I saved and used them all up!  Here are a couple of pics to give you a little better idea of what it looks like close up.  

So won't you pop on over to the Cut-it-up Challenge blog and check it out? 

I am also linking up to the Ribbon Carousel Blog Challenge for holiday creations since well...you might have noticed a whole heck of a lot of ribbon here and I do not yet have a carousel!  Definitely need one! :)

I know I haven't been blogging a lot lately, but I am getting close to the end of my class and will be doing more very soon.  The Question of the Day today is- do you miss the question of the day?  I am wondering if folks like this feature or if it gets too repetitive and boring for folks?  Thanks for letting me know, I do appreciate it!

PS- I'll announce the blog candy winner from this post the next time I put a card up and it will be soon!

Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop- You are absolutely incredible!

...If you made it this far....you came from Judy Marino's blog (entire list below) and I thank you for taking the time to hit me at #283 on the list!  HANG IN THERE, YOU ARE ALMOST TO THE END OF THIS INCREDIBLE HOP!   Only 2 left after this one!

I haven't made any new cards in a while, I just haven't had a moment.  BUT I have a pretty fun older card I can show you, it was a PC mag. call submission that wasn't accepted.  The message on the card is just a perfect one to deliver to one AMAZING PERSON! You probably know who that person is being that is has been big news around the stamp blog-o-sphere.... Cath Edvalson!

Cath- WOW...really...wow!  You are incredible (...and not just because the card says so- wink)!  You have done so much for so many and brought inspiration and loveliness into our lives.  Life can be hard but you are constantly delivering the good, the bright, and the moxie-fabulousness. For that I, and so many others, thank you!  I've loved "connecting" with you, learning from you and being motivated and encouraged by you!

You have been the heart of Moxie Fab World, and obviously, it won't be the same with out you.  However, change is inevitable, so we must all embrace it.  This is an opportunity for you to continue to blossom, and of course I know you will...wherever you go and whatever you do!  I can only hope that I/we are lucky enough to continue to share in your journey.   Thank you for all you have done, do and continue to do and be Cath!  You are absolutely incredible!

Please, please don't stop here.  As I said there are only 2 stops left and next up is Melissa Phillips blog.  AFTER you finish the hop, please come back to this post to sing up for some blog candy. :)

Our Moxie Fab Thanks to You, Cath!

1.	Moxie Fab World	96.	Anieszka Malyszek	191.	Jimmi Mayo
2.	Keren Baker	97.	Kate from i {heart} papers	192.	Julie Overby
3.	Jennifer Ingle	98.	Cindy Lawrence	193.	Eva Dobilas
4.	Debby Hughes	99.	Lori Tecler	194.	Ren-Yi Lo
5.	Virginia Lu	100.	Penny Ward	195.	Jessica Shelton-Buffa
6.	Nina Yang	101.	Leigh Penner	196.	DoBea Alberts
7.	Karolyn Loncon	102.	Christina MacLaren	197.	Nicole Rixon
8.	Lori Barnett	103.	Heidi Van Laar	198.	Debbie Corbari
9.	Kim Hughes / Paper Smooches	104.	Giovana Smith	199.	Lawn Fawn / Kelly Marie Alvarez
10.	Becky Oehlers	105.	Katrina Hunt	200.	Leigh Ann Baird
11.	Donna Mikasa	106.	Kathi Rerek	201.	Betsy Veldman
12.	JJ Bolton	107.	Glenda J. Wyatt	202.	Natasha Kara
13.	Jocelyn Olson	108.	Heather Campbell	203.	Wanda Cullen
14.	Daniela Dobson	109.	Ardyth Percy-Robb	204.	Shemaine Smith
15.	Amy Wanford	110.	Erica Hettwer	205.	Lydia Fiedler
16.	Sylvia Blum	111.	Danielle Walls	206.	Jenn Shurkus
17.	AJ Otto	112.	Fresh Squeezed Stamps	207.	Leslie Hanna
18.	Taheerah Atchia	113.	Lynn Mangan	208.	Lenny Sacr�as
19.	Laura Williams	114.	Kim Kesti	209.	Chunyuan Wu
20.	Kimberly Crawford	115.	Kelly Booth	210.	Berenice Rendon
21.	Vera Yates	116.	Stephanie Severin	211.	Brenda Weaver
22.	Jaclyn Miller	117.	Michelle Lupton	212.	Sabrina Alery
23.	Amber Kroening	118.	Angelica Suarez	213.	Debbie Marcinkiewicz
24.	Lindsay Amrhein	119.	Sarah Martina Parker	214.	Lyndal Higgins
25.	Miriam Prantner	120.	Ashley Nguyen Newell	215.	Pattie Goldman
26.	Irit Shalom	121.	Jessica Witty	216.	Jenny Martin
27.	Anabelle O'Malley	122.	Jennifer Rzasa	217.	Michelle Bala
28.	Michele Gross	123.	Jennifer Priest	218.	Julie Smith
29.	Teri Anderson	124.	Angie Tieman	219.	Linda Auclair
30.	Alice Wertz	125.	Bev Gerard	220.	Tyra Babington
31.	Pamela Ho	126.	Asty Purbasari	221.	Darnell J Knauss
32.	Elena Roussakis	127.	Megan Hoeppner	222.	Jennifer Jackson
33.	Lorena Canto	128.	Pia Overgaard	223.	Amy Sheffer
34.	Tara Cardwell	129.	Nina Brackett	224.	Piali Biswas
35.	Joscelyne Cutchens	130.	Linda Lucas	225.	Lori Hairston
36.	Ashley Harris	131.	Judy Rozema	226.	Charlene Bopp
37.	Annette Allen	132.	Lynn Mercurio	227.	Deanna Woodland
38.	Jessi Fogan	133.	Erin Thiem	228.	Ceal Pritchett
39.	Lindsey M-P	134.	Carolyn Gimpel King	229.	Vanessa Menhorn
40.	Christine Dring	135.	Smitha Katti	230.	P. Kelly Smith
41.	Tasnim Ahmed	136.	Susan Liles	231.	Therese Calvird
42.	Alicia Thelin	137.	Lisa Arana	232.	Rachel Izakowicz
43.	Ashley Marcu	138.	Kalyn Kepner	233.	Frances Byrne
44.	Kryssi Ng / Mama Elephant	139.	Rachel Kleinman	234.	Holly Shepard
45.	Katie Gehring	140.	Wendy Price	235.	Geri Greening
46.	Angi Barrs	141.	Kim Dellow	236.	Gretchen Belknap (same as #186)
47.	Tracey McNeely	142.	Melissa Elsner	237.	Shirley Bampton
48.	Jen del Muro	143.	Laura Pryor	238.	Julia Stainton
49.	Sarah J. Moerman	144.	Ivanka Lentle	239.	Diana Slaughter
50.	Laurie Willison	145.	Ashlee Townsend	240.	Kim Heggins
51.	Cristina Kowalczyk	146.	Michelle Liimatainen	241.	Melissa Phillips
52.	Iwona Palamountain	147.	Juliana Michaels	242.	Jennifer McGuire
53.	Shanna Vineyard	148.	Ilina Crouse	243.	Beth Matson
54.	Tiffany Johnson	149.	Suzanne Bier	244.	Kanan Pandya
55.	Laura O'Donnell	150.	Sherry Wright	245.	Chrissy Larson
56.	Lisa Adametz	151.	Barb Housner	246.	Kristi Schurr
57.	Laura Bassen	152.	Kim Makortoff	247.	Tammy Hobbs
58.	Ryann Salamon	153.	Stephanie Washburn	248.	Windy Robinson
59.	Clare Buswell	154.	Alyssa Scritchfield	249.	Wida Miller
60.	Gayatri Murali	155.	Niki G	250.	Erum Tasneem
61.	Laurel Seabrook	156.	Colleen Dietrich	251.	Barb Murphy
62.	Christine Traversa	157.	Sharyn Tormanen	252.	SRM Stickers
63.	Melania Deasy	158.	Karin �kesdotter	253.	Judy Marino
64.	Michelle Williams	159.	Erin Taylor	254.	Noelle McAdams
65.	Jamie Gracz / Avery Elle	160.	Jen Carter	255.	Katie Brooks
66.	Lin Brandyberry	161.	Cristina N��ez (Yainea)	256.	Unity Stamp Company
67.	Michelle Woerner	162.	Susie Wittwer	257.	Cheryl Valadez
68.	Kim Howard	163.	Becky Olsen	258.	Jennie Harper
69.	Amanda Coleman	164.	Lori Craig	259.	Latisha Yoast
70.	Dana Warren	165.	Tessa Wise	260.	Ang Mansfield
71.	Kelly Griglione	166.	Courtney Kelley	261.	Danielle Flanders
72.	Taylor Usry	167.	Maureen Merritt	262.	Niki Meiners
73.	Emily Branch	168.	Alice Golden	263.	Shelly Kurth
74.	Amy Tsuruta	169.	Chrissie Tobas	264.	Els Brigé
75.	Rae Barthel	170.	Stasia Sloma	265.	Jane Beljo
76.	Erin Schreiner	171.	Heather Hoffman	266.	Stacy Croninger
77.	Stacey Schafer	172.	Annette Witherspoon	267.	Susie Moore
78.	Sarah Gough	173.	Tarynne Wise	268.	Gaby Creates
79.	Joni Andaya	174.	Amy Kolling	269.	Sylvia Nelson
80.	Lalo	175.	Chari Moss	270.	Lucy Abrams
81.	Maria Fischer	176.	Carol Wilson	271.	Lee Murphy
82.	Laurie Schmidlin	177.	Shelly Greybeck	272.	Britta Swiderski
83.	Yvonne Yam	178.	Maureen Plut	273.	Michele Kovack
84.	Tifany DeGough	179.	Bree Tetz	274.	Valerie Stangle
85.	Deirdre Horgan	180.	Meredith MacRitchie	275.	Nancy Krueger
86.	Cheiron Brandon	181.	Dawn Turley	276.	Heather Doran
87.	Beverley Brown	182.	Marisa Gunn	277.	Isha Gupta
88.	Tenia Nelson	183.	Simone Naoum	278.	N@ Ali
89.	Jamie Greene	184.	Stephanie Muzzulin	279.	Dawn Schuster
90.	Veronica Zalis	185.	Richard Breaks	280.	Ginny Henriquez
91.	Jennifer Scull	186.	Gretchen Belknap	281.	Joyce Mehrberg
92.	Lizzie Sanchez	187.	Libby Hickson	282.	Cathy Andronicou
93.	Glitz Design	188.	Hannelie Bester	283.	Rebecca Fellows
94.	Lea Lawson	189.	Julie Campbell	284.	Cornelia (fun stamping) Wenokor
95.	Heather Nichols	190.	Lisa Henke	285.	Anita Recksiedler

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

REMINDER- blog candy

There is blog candy on this post.  I'll leave it 

open until 11/14/13 and announce the winner after that. 

Happy Almost Weekend!

CIU- Thanksgiving

Well Halloween is over.  Now that we've gorged ourselves on lots of candy how about moving onto some turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing?  Yep, US Thanksgiving here we come!

Meanwhile, I bet you can't guess what the next CIU challenge is....hint, gobble, gobble.... Yep, Turkey Day!
So many folks have been playing the challenge with some super awesome entries.  Don't you want to throw you pilgrim hat in the ring too?  Here's how:

How to play? 
1. Follow the CIU blog.
2.  Create a *new* project based on the them and use die cuts (any die cut)
3.  Link it up to the blog. 
(Check out the full rules on the CIU blog if you like)

There are some fab prizes up for grabs too!  Here is what we are offering for this round:

1.  Some goodies offered by the fabulous Norma Pimentel (SU! Demo).  
AND
2. $20 Coupon to As Cute as a Button.

My inspiration for this round was based on these feathers from My Favorite Things in autumnal colors.  I wanted to keep cutting them.  So first I had the idea to make a less traditional card, sorta scrappy.  Then, channeling my daughter, I thought it would be fun to make a turkey, one that reminded me of a hand drawing kids do but a little different.  This turkey has the MFT die and also some circles from Lawn Fawn.  The gobbler is a little snippet of ribbon and the wings and feet are punches from SU!.  Of course the sentiment and heart are from Paper Smooches.  I finished it off with googly eyes to complete the kid project feel.  I am pretty sure my daughter is gonna want this card when she sees it (shh....she hasn't yet!).

Funny side story, one day 4ish years ago my hubby and I were sitting on the couch watching TV.  It was getting near dinner time and we were both saying we were feeling hungry.  My stomach grumbled and I kid you not, it sound like an actual live turkey gobbling!  He looked at me as if I'd swolled a turkey whole!  LOL!  We laughed for the longest time about it!  On that note, the Question of the Day is- what is one of the funniest things you've ever said, done or witnesses that had you ROTFL?

Thanks for stopping!

PS- I have some blog candy up for grabs on this post here, be sure to check it out. :)

PPS- Because this has that fall feel and the feathers remind me a bit of this inspiration photo over at Paper Smooches SPARKS, I am linking up the turkey card to that challenge.