Outside the box...

This was a lot of fun to do!

The challenge at Saturday Spotlight was to make a Halloween card, but to not use any Halloween stamps!

Well, I happened to have this new set, Merriest Wishes, from TAC that kept jumping off of my shelf, wanting to be inked.

Who am I to put a set of stamps back on the shelf and tell them 'no'?

So, out came this adorable snowperson stamp, and the following card was born!

What's in it??? K & Co. DP, Computer generated sentiment, Large Nesties, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Tombow Markers, Sharpies, Ribbon and button from my stash, DCWV CS, Sakura Starburst Glitter Pen.

She is entirely colored with either Tombow or Sharpies, except for her paper pieced "coat".

Hope your Friday is wonderful. It is STILL raining here, dark and dreary, Cardinal's got slammed by the Dodger's again, but otherwise...life is good!

Blessings...Patti J.

Dedicated to Melissa...

DD took a fairly longish hike the other day (before AND after camping out in a tent on the ground!) on the Ozark Trail here in Missouri.

She apparently had a close encounter of too many kinds with arachnids! You can read about it and see icky pictures here.

I am always telling DD that she is SO brave, and she always argues that she's not at all brave. Well, DD, I can PROMISE you that when I happened onto the very first spider, I would have been so totally OUTA THERE!!! You, my dear, are SO brave!!!

Anyway...when I realized I hadn't yet done the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge for this week, I knew exactly what I had to do! Melissa, this card is for you!!!

Sketch:

Card:

Supplies: DCWV Matstack, K & Co. Matstack, Versafine Black, Spiders from Sandylion.

Sheesh, now I'm creeped out all over again!

Pleasant dreams everyone! I'm off to work on announcement inserts! Very nearly finished!!!

Patti J.

~Beware of things that go squish in the night!

Wonderful Saturday...

Wow...the weather today was like a special order day. The sky is clear and beautiful, a bit of a breeze blowing, and about 78 degrees. Absolutely heavenly.

DD, Shirley, and I left here about 10 this a.m. We started out over at Sue B.'s house for a fun hour of Stampin' Up Open House festivities. We shopped the retired table, placed our orders, and headed down the highway to O'Dear's, a super scrapbook shop, and picked up some things we needed there. Last on our agenda was a trip out to God's country (really!!!), where we went to one of the local wineries that was having an art show. A lady that used to work with me, and stamp with Shirley and I had a display of her paintings and jewelry there today. We went mainly to support her! The views off the back deck of this winery were breathtaking, and the weather delightful! Sigh....all too soon, it was back to the real world where we could do some 'chores'....

When we got home, DD and I had yesterday's leftovers for lunch. She had fixed us homemade salsa, black beans, cheese, and whole wheat chips. Oh my goodness, it was delish!!!

I checked out the challenges, and came up with the quick card above to meet three of them:

365 Cards challenge was all about layering. We were to "layer" our stamps!

The challenge at Papercutz was to use something on our creation that "flies"!

And...the Lots to do challenge was to "use paper on our creations"!

Oh, baby - these were great for me! I reached right for my TAC Script Background stamp and the Beautiful Day set, and voila! The stamping was done with Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Peeled Paint, and Old Paper. Stamped on K & Co. CS., onto DCWV CS.

Now, it's back to my announcements! Hope your Saturday is as wonderful as mine has been! My DH and DS are hitting yet a third Cardinal game tonight, again in San Diego. I hope my beloved "Birds" do better tonight!

Blessings!

Patti J.

~The gap between 'need' and 'want' is often filled with headaches and heartbreaks. -Peter Reese

Make and Take Saturday...

HELP! I need your opinion! Our little town is having quite the shopping extravaganza this weekend! The Red Rooster, is our local 'has everything' craft store. Everything, of course, (!!!) includes stamps, inks, designer papers, etc. I've been asked to get together a quick 'make and take' for the occasion, and will be there all day to be the 'teacher'... It needs to be a very quick project. I've worked this up, using DP by K and Co., a Kaleidacolor Ink Pad, and Inkadinkado stamps. It's VERY quick and very easy.

What do you think? If you happened into a craft store to do a little shopping and could walk out with this greeting card for free, would it be an okay project? It's a terrible photo - the ceiling fan was trying to blow it over, and I did a pretty sloppy job with my marker border, but hopefully, you get the idea! Please share your thoughts...

Have a nice night - it's off to bed for this tired gal! (Is tomorrow REALLY only Thursday?)

Patti J.
~Eat a live toad in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day. (really!)

Challenges....

Before I get started rambling, there is a very talented 8 year old girl in the U.K. that has designed her very own card and posted it on her momma's blog. I think she did a fantastic job for as young as she is!!! If you get time today, please take a moment to visit Pat's blog, and leave Sarah an inspirational message! The blog is: http://clevercrafting.blogspot.com/

I am finding that I really enjoy the card challenges. It gives me an excuse to make something, and a sketch or main idea to work with. Sometimes, when I just sit and stare at paper and stamps, nothing happens!

This being said, the card I'm posting today is for The Corrosive Challenge #6 (Spring has Sprung) in which we were to use an Easter or Spring theme, AND for the Card Patterns challenge, which was to follow the given sketch (posted below also!). This was fun, trying to combine the two. I'm not crazy about the outcome, but I guess I'm not supposed to like them all!

The stamp sets are Fleur Birdies and Tag Tidbits, both by The Angel Company. The punches are by Marvy Uchida. The beautiful paper is Garden Party Green Floral Flat Glitter Paper, by K & Company. I picked it up on my last visit to O'Dear's. I can't wait until the 18th of April - am going down for a morning class, and will more than likely come back with a bag FULL of goodies!
Have a blessed Sunday - hope you get some rest, and some quality family time today.

Patti J.
~Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. - Job 37:14