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. :)

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.