Gift Cards

Hello, and Happy Friday to you all!!!

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So, 34 years ago, today, at 1:31 p.m., our firstborn child arrived! Happy Birthday John!

John lives far from us, in California, and his birthday is always terribly hard for us, as we can't be together. The last birthday he celebrated with any of us was in 1993! We hope to see him next month for Turkey dinner!

Feel free to drop him a Happy Birthday wish at jbg1443@gmail.com

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Today, I have some gift card holders that I've made for an upcoming swap. I don't think that there are very many of the 'swappers' that check out my blog, so I'm going to post them, so that you know what I have been doing when I was supposed to be blurfing!

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So, you know how sometimes you make something, and you just feel like, "oh well, these are cute" la de da.... no big deal... and other times, you make something that you just fall in love with? Well!!! I really love how these turned out! I love the bright colors,

and these little snowfolks are the

CA-UTEST (as Barb would say) stamps to color!!!

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Let me know what YOU think!

Recipe:

Stamps - The Angel Company

Ink: Versafine Black

DP: The Angel Company FREE DOWNLOADABLE Papers

Punch: EK Success

CS: Stash Stuff...

Ribbon: Hobby Lobby

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One last item - I actually cased myself! Don't you love it when that happens? I went into my photo album and found a photo of the card I did a while back with the Inky Impressions 'ribbon' stamp. The challenge at Pals Paper Arts this week is to use pink, in honor of breast cancer awareness. One of their own DT members has been battling breast cancer now for three years, so I made this card for her - Karol Harris, this one's for you!

Have a great Friday! I'm off to do a bit of shopping, and to Sherwin Williams to pick some brains! Hope the men or women in blue can help me figure out what to do with my sunporch!!!

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Patti J.

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Another silly church sign: Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall as soon as the B.S. is done.

Another rainy day in Missouri...

Yup, it's raining again! I am seriously pricing lumber for our 'big boat'... however, I refuse to take two rodents...(sorry Nina!). We apparently have another critter that is smarter than the traps are - lol.

My card today was made for Lynn's challenge at Stamp TV for this week: "Let it Snow".

I just got some Polar White Flower Soft on Tuesday at O'Dear's, (thanks Deb!!!) and hadn't opened it yet (except to share with a friend), and was anxious to give it a try.

I used Theresa Momber's new set, "Very Merry Christmas", and the stamping and sponging was done with SU's Bashful Blue and Wild Wasabi Green. I think the only other ingredient in this recipe was the Sakura Starburst Glitter Pen for the snow 'flakes'.

It is certainly not my favorite piece of work, but my morning's been pretty hectic, and I only had 15-20 minutes to spare.

Well, hope that you are all looking forward to the weekend!

Take care -

Patti J.

Another real church blooper: This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Jackson to come forward and lay an egg on the alter.

Workshop Goodies...

Here are some goodies that my friend Shirley and I did in the workshop we attended today at O'Dear's. Karin Braxton was our instructor, and she is always a lot of fun. Of course, we all HAD to shop at O'Dear's (gosh, don't you just hate it when that happens?), and then go to lunch together afterward!!!

Enjoy!

We had a great time! Aren't these folds and cuts just the cutest ever???

Have a good night - Patti J.

Emma...

Before I go on, I would ask that you keep a special family in your hearts this week. A few weeks ago, I blogged that DD, Melissa, had taken a trip to Pennsylvania, to attend the wedding of a friend. This friend and DD had a unique and special bond. Both of them were many miles from home, and had brothers that had just been sent to serve their first deployment. They became each others support systems in their grad school home away from home. We received word this morning, that Melissa's friend Matt's brother was killed in Afghanistan this morning (yesterday???). Matt was just married a few weeks ago, and his brother officiated at his wedding. As a parent of a son twice deployed, I cannot begin to imagine that knock on the door. Please keep this family in your thoughs and prayers, during their difficult times to come.

Thank you.

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Hi friends - This post will be short today. I feel badly for not posting anything over the weekend, but there simply wasn't time to get into my girl cave and hide out with my toys for a while. I did manage to finish a Christmas swap which, as you know, I can't share until it is in the hands of the recipients! It was a large swap - 15! Fun, though! So grateful to have a great group to swap with! (you know who you are!).

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Today's card is for a few challenges...

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Stampin' Sisters in Christ's challenge this week (I Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (NIV) was to create a card that expresses your thankfulness for someone or something they have done, or that encourages someone to be thankful. So... this card has been created for my friend, Lisa, who can read me like a book, and knows just when I need a little extra cyberhug, or prayer!!! So Lisa, this one's for you! (Kristine's pretty amazing too - you may need to share with her!)

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I chose to follow this sketch from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. What a great sketch! I turned it all kattywampus as usual, but I did follow it (mostly)! Instead of flower, I used leaf...etc....

Here's my card.

Also, the challenge at the All That Scraps challenge was to create a tall card. This card is pretty tall! I made it to fit into a business sized envelope. This adorable image, Pumpkin Emma, is a CC. Designs Stamp, that I got from All that Scraps. Isn't she precious??? The sentiment is by Rupa Shvede, and is a Gina K. Designs Stamp.

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Hope you like it.

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Patti J.

Trick or Treat!

Here is a little something I enjoyed putting together tonight! I'll start by showing you the Mojo Monday Sketch for this week, which I followed on my project!

Instead of stamping on the large rectangle, I made a rectanular window, showing the yummy candy inside my Trick or Treat Wrapper that I created for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge!

Here is a shot of the back so that you can see the beautiful argyle embossing!

The orange strip at the bottom is just part of the purple box cover that I sponged with orange Stampin'Up Ink until it was orange!

Last but not least, here is what's inside the matchbox! Yum... Isn't this purple candy corn just too much fun? So pretty!!!

I am also going to hop over to Pile it On, where the challenge is "Ready for Halloween". I think this should qualify!

Off to get some sleep. Take care...

Patti J.

Tempting Wednesday...

The temptation today is "Girl Cave"...

I am so tempted to just stay in my girl cave all day long!

However, I have OODLES of paperwork and cleaning to do today! A trip to the bank and to Wal-Mart (ugh) must happen today as well! So, without further ado, here's my card to this morning!

Following the above sketch, by Donna Baker at Stamp TV, I used Rupa's "My Cuppa Joe" set from Gina K. Designs to make this card:

Can't wait to see your lovely cards and projects today! I'll be back later to check on you!

Happy Wednesday!

Special Snowpeople...

This week, Stamp Simply had a challenge to make a gatefold card. I love gatefold cards! I just had to take part in this challenge!

I decided to pair it with the challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ, which was to follow the scripture: Luke 2:11: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (NIV) The challenge was to make a card or project featuring the nativity or other religious theme about Christ's birth. Here is what I did...

Front of card...

Inside of card...

Recipe: Stamps: The Angel Company, Ink: Versafine Black, Colored with Kooh-I-Noor Pencils, White Fun Flock, Starburst glitter pen, DCWV Cardstock.

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Switching gears a bit, I found a new challenge! Well, actually, a new challenge found me! I had a comment yesterday from one of the ladies at Digi Kitty Challenge Blog, inviting me over to play! Of course, I did!!! We were to use Purple, Orange, Green, Black, and of course, Jack, the image! Looking at this photo, the little spots of purple in the white circles don't show up... (sad face here)... My card is below:

Hope you like them! Thanks for stopping by! I'm off now to check out your blogs - it's been a paperwork day here, and I haven't had a chance to blurf today!

Peace out dudes and dudettes!

Patti J.

~Lol....Embarrassing church sign: This evening at 7 p.m. there will be a hymn sing in the park across the street from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Monday, Monday...

So, we survived another Monday! Wonder why Monday's are so hard? Monday's are even yukky for retiree's! I had a gloomy day today...stayed in ALL day. Did a craft festival with DD on Saturday from 10-4, and it was and outdoor festival. It got into the 50's, and was a beautiful day, but the sun was high overhead all day, and this poor fair skinned girl got blistered. My neck, nose, chin, cheeks, and eyebrows look ridiculous! Lol.... So, today, I didn't budge. I moisturized all day long, and still feel fiery!

I took time to make one card, but couldn't stand to sit under my halogen lights any more than that!

I've never taken part in a challenge at Card Patterns, and decided this was 'the' week! Below is their Sketch #37. I'm such a rebel - I nearly always turn sketches all kattywampus! This was turned on it's side!

The challenge at There's Magic in the Air, was to use Nina's beautiful free digi image (shown on card below), with a slight twist! DT member, Curt, challenged us to pop up some or all of our image! So, dear Curt...I did!!! I printed the image twice, colored twice, and cut out the geese, all of the fence, the large and small pumpkins. All of these, in addition to the computer generated sentiment, were popped up! It's pretty cool the way popping them up creates shadows!

Other challenges met with this card were:

Created by Hand (Harvest Time),

Scrap & Stamp Saturday (Thankful),

Three Clovers Designs (Nature).

All coloring was done with Kooh-I-Noor colored pencils and low odor mineral spirits.

I really enjoy Nina's images! She posts a free image every Monday that stays up for a week. Run over and check it out!

Well, hope to be back on my feet tomorrow with some more cards to show... have a great night!

Patti J.

Did you know...Coca Cola was originally green!

Another Auction....

I'm going to add something to the top here as a last minute silly card! The challenge this week at Saturday Spotlight has been to "Dress up those trees"! I think that this silvery glittery, blingy tree is pretty dressed up!!! Lol!

I think that it will also work for the challenge at Stamp Something, which is to "Bling" something! Whew...I love bling, but I hate doing it!!! I'm proud of me!

The projects I have today are the beginning of a basket of goodies that I'm doing for another upcoming charity auction.

A wonderful young woman that I used to work with has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She and her husband have 7 (yes, seven) children, the youngest is less than one year old. Shelly has the patience of a Saint - her job was to work each day as a house parent at the Children's Home that our school programs were run out of! Folks like that amaze me! I love kids to pieces, but I think if I had seven at home, I'd want to work alone, and out in the woods! Anyway, there is a fund raiser for her in a week or so. As she has no health insurance, the medical bills are adding more stress to an already bleak situation.

Here's what I have so far for the basket...

I have several of these little window tins, so I made a set of four Halloween notecards, and just wrapped the tin with a cardstock band.

Here are the four cards...All stamps are TAC.

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Then I made a folder, again with four cards. These, however, are A-2 cards, with decorated envelopes. Again, all stamps are TAC. DP is from last year's DCWV Christmas mat pack.

Not being sure who the recipients would be, I wen with a simple "hello" as a sentiment.

No clue as to whether anyone will even want them, but it's a start! Hopefully, I'll have something else to show tomorrow! I've got to find a challenge with these themes to enter these into since I don't have time to do this AND make cards for challenges!

Brrr....it's cold! How funny...If it were the end of winter, and spring was just around the corner, 44 and rainy would feel delightful. But when it's fall, and winter is just around the corner, it's an entirely different temperature! I know I should not complain, as some of you have posted photo's of snow already this year!

All righty then...I'm off to see what you talented, amazing folks have on your blogs today!

Have a great night - Happy FRIDAY!!!

Patti J.

~Life is good...

Happy Halloween Bekah...

Did you know that October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month? One of our fellow bloggers, Giovana Smith, has a young neighbor girl, Bekah, who has spina bifida. Giovana has begun a card drive to surprise Bekah with. To read about it, and to see a picture of a darling Bekah, check out Giovana's wonderful blog!

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Also, please don't forget about the fundraiser for Priscilla from Midnight Madness Blog. You can follow the link on my sidebar to Nikki's blog to read about her illness, and her family's troubles.

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My card for Bekah is a Halloween Card. I'm going to be sneaky, however, and post it to a challenge or two before I mail it!

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The challenge at Stamptacular Sunday is "Character Counts". We're to use a cartoon character on our card. The challenge at My Time to Craft is "Quick and Cute". I'm hoping that by posting it to two challenges, more folks will read about Bekah, and choose to send a card!

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My next project today is a rather silly one! Donna Baker at Stamp TV posted a challenge to make a project from a toilet paper roll! How much fun is that! Talk about a challenge!

You all need to run over to Stamp TV and check out the challenge - the tag is 3doctober09. There are some outstanding projects there!

My DD loves Biscotti, so I decided to make a Biscotti Holder and gift card that slightly resemble Santa!

Hope it makes you smile a bit - it was fun to brainstorm this one!

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Last is a card that I've made for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge, using the Mojo Monday sketch. Elephant image is TAC. The ABC block was a Michael's $1 stamp.

I spent hours today sorting, and pitching, and Goodwilling 'stuff' from my craft drawers. I've barely touched the surface! Tomorrow, however, is another day!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Patti J.

~Did you know...the blood of a mammal is red. The blood of an insect is yellow. The blood of a lobster is blue! (Funny what interests me!)

Holiday Cards

Today was a busy day here!

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Little white furball had to be groomed today, it was Stamp Club Day, and three checkbooks had to be balanced. I made time to play a bit this evening, however!

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This first card is one of my favorites. I really like the way it turned out! CS was GKD Pure Luxury Ivory, and Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay. Ink and Ribbon were Stampin'Up Bermuda Bay. Stamps were once again, Theresa Momber's "Very Merry Christmas" set.

Hope you like it!!! I submitted it into a challenge at Stamp TV that was to make a 'kickstand' card.

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This card was made for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge, which was to make a monochromatic card, and for sketch challenge STVSC33 at Stamp TV.. I used DCWV CS, misc. embossing folders, and Rupa Shvede's "So Grateful" stamps. Ink was Versafine Brown. Image was stamped on GKD Pure Luxury Ivory, punched out, and then stamped again. I colored and fussy cut the second image, and used pop dots to adhere it over the first image. Flower is Martha Stewart punch. Flower center is a scrap of embossed CS.

Hope you like this one too!

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Yikes! We get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow - must get some sleep!

Have a great night - rest well!

Patti J.

A Latte Warm Wishes...

The challenge this week at Stamp Something was to use a lot of brown!

Other colors could be used, but the predominant color was to be brown! Brown paper, brown ink, I had plenty of! All stamping, distressing, etc., was done in brown ink.

The stamps are from The Angel Company. The DP is some from The Paper Studio. If you need any other deets, let me know!

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Hope you like it! These two new TAC sets are so much fun!

They make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

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They say that coffee, chocolate, and men are all better rich!!!

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I'm off to begin cooking supper. I will be back tonight to peruse your blogs and see what you have all been up to!

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...a latte warm wishes for a great evening!

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Patti J.

~FYI....I don't have a problem with caffeine, I have a problem without caffeine!

Teeth of the Wicked Witches....

Good morning, and happy Saturday! I think I'll start this morning with another amazing image from Nina at "There's Magic in the Air".

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Each Monday morning, Nina posts a new free digital image that she encourages us to grab, create with, and enter into her weekly challenges.

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I don't normally like 'rodents', but this little guy very quickly made me smile!

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Really..... he looks like he's saying "Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt"! Hmmmm...maybe if it's a rodent, he's looking for the cheese, who knows???

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Anyway, he was so adorable, I just had to play!

Supplies: DCWV CS, DP scrap from my stash, Martha Stewart edge punch, brads from my stash, Kooh-I-Noor Pencils and LOMS, and I used some Marvy and Stampin' Up inks to stipple around the scene. The sentiment is TAC.

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This next project was made for Gina K.'s 'Candy' Challenge at Stamp TV this week. I am also submitting it to Three Clover's challenge, which was also to make a Halloween Treat Box!

I created an ornament box from the downloadable pattern by Jennifer Carter, on TAC's website.

I did not have any Gina K. Halloween stamps, but I downloaded all of my DP from the Freebie's on Stamp TV.

Maybe this will count on the challenge as using GKD supplies!

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The box is pretty self-explanatory.

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I found these adorable glass ornaments at Hobby Lobby, and decided that I shouldn't save them all for Christmas!

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I thought they'd make a cute Halloween treat as well.

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However, when I found this wonderful purple candy corn, I quickly discovered that they would not fit into the ornament opening. (very sad face here).

So....I decided to cut them in half! When I began cutting, I realized that they resembled rotten teeth, so I'm calling them "Teeth of the Wicked Witches"...

Thanks for stopping by today to look!

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I'm off to do a few chores, and will be back in a little while to check out all of your blogs to see what beauties you have created!

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Have a good day!

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Patti J.

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Things to be happy about:

falling in love

laughing so hard your face hurts

no lines at Wal-Mart!