Taking on a Challenge...or Two...or Three?

It's Wednesday....a full week into the month of 

December and it's gone by quickly, hasn't it?!

I have been 'hooked' on making Christmas cards

this year.  I don't know if it's because I stocked up

on sooooo many of the new holiday collections

this past fall or what?!

I just know that I am going to be offering most of

my new cards in my Etsy shop because I will have

an abundance!

I have My Mind's Eye and Fancy Pants Designs to thank

for parts of this elegant greeting.  I embellished a bit with

lots of bling

from The Paper Studio, Recollections and Stickles.

Oh...that punch on the blue panel?

It's a cool 'Radiant Circle' from EK Success.

I just randomly punched it and I think it added

a lot of depth, don't you?

I thought I would offer these to the following challenges:

There She Goes #84 ~ Bring on the Bling

City Crafter #34 ~ Let it Snow
Sunday Stampers #132 ~ Wonderful Christmastime

Little Red Wagon #58 ~ Use a Die Cut
Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Holiday Greeting

I LoVe this quote and I LoVe this card

from Fancy Pants Designs 'Christmas Magic'

Collection.  I find all of their cards so versatile.

The DP on the base is from the 'Merry Days of Christmas'

Collection and the holly die cut is from 'Holly Jolly' set

both from My Mind's Eye.

I am a huge fan of those very 'luxe' sequins that I find

in the $1.99 bins at Archiver's, so the last time I was

there, I picked up several colors.  They made

terrific berries for the holly.

It's not as easy to see, but I added

stardust Stickles around the edges of the

holly and on the card around the heart gem.

I love that this card fits these FAB challenges:

The Color Throwdown #122

The Color Dare #88

Red, Olive, Neutral of Choice

There She Goes #84

Bring on the Bling

So happy to have had a chance to share these with

you today!  I will be back at midnight tonight with a

fab new challenge from 

See you soon!

Nothing Like a Challenge on World Card Making Day!

Happy World Card Making Day!

I think today is going to be a fun day all

across blog land as so many paper crafters are

taking part in sharing their creations.

I actually am sharing this card with a few challenges.

Taylored Expressions

Sketch Challenge #130

Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday Challenge

'CAS or Tags'

Unity Stamps/SCS
'Handmade Flower Embellishments'

The City Crafter Challenge

'Flowers and Frills'

and here is my offering...

I absolutely LoVe these new papers from BasicGrey.

The 'Jovial' Collection.  Both the background and

flower were created from this set.

Check out this little collection...

 I made these in the workroom of Archivers when I spent

the day there last Sunday.  They're made from the

'Tattered Blooms' die cut from Tim Holtz/Sizzix.

The sentiment is from one of my faves...Unity!

It's not as easy to tell from the photo, but the flower

is 3-D and each petal is pulled 'up' for a layered effect.
Add a little Prima 'bling, and beautiful brads also
from BasicGrey and you are set!

Short and sweet...hope you enjoyed it!

If you did, won't you please leave a little comment

before you go?  I LoVe to hear from you.

I will actually be back a little later with another

post.  I have a batch of birthday shopping photos

to share from my trip to Archivers

and

I am late with a giveway from last week's

Growing in Unity.

Enjoy World Card Making Day

and I will see you a little bit later!

A Little French Inspiration

It is SO good to be back in my little

art space.  I confess that

I haven't had much time to create

this week, and it just so happens that

I chose to participate in a couple of

challenges, which is a great way

to get you focused.

.....One challenge is simple in it's sketch

and one that's inspires layers......

If you have read my blog for any length of time,

you probably know that I am in love with the

Provence region of France.

So when I saw City Crafters' theme this week

was 'I Love Paris', I knew I wanted

in on the fun!

The sketch over at Card Patterns was just

right because it was simple enough to allow

for lots of creativity on the page.

I went major BOO on this card.

The DP is actually stationary from

The Paper Company which

I purchased many years ago along with

a little DCWV accenting.

The 'Paris postmark' stamp is Stampabilities.

The fab die-cut in the center is from

Tattered Angels 'Creme Collection'.

I'm sure you not only recognize the 

Martha Loop Punch, but also the bird die cut,

which is from Tim Holtz and the Spellbinders 

Nestibilities scallop.

The bling and flowers are from Prima.

Glad to be able to share this with you.

I hope when you stop by, you will take a

moment to say hello...

Love is in the Air...

I have been working on a few cards to try and get

ahead on posting as I will be away over the next

several days...so here is another one.

I love vintage and shabby chic, but don't create nearly 

as many things as I would like just because of the

time required to layer and layer.

I love these this paper from Webster's Pages.

I was able to piece it together and use much of the page.

The only paper that is not WP, are the solid white, pink 

& green cardstocks.  The green heart was stamped

around the edges with an accent stamp to give depth.

The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly.

Thought I would offer these up for a bunch of

challenges...so here's where they are going:

Challenge #112 ~ Sketch

Challenge #4 ~ Pinks

Wee Memories #5 ~ Stitches

Our Creative Corner ~ Which Anniversary?

(I went with 30th which is pearls)

I will be back a little later with the new

challenge from The Play Date Cafe.

Are you Ready for Some 'Sweet' Color?

I'm just a waitin' for my two oldest grandsons to come

by for a visit while their mom attends a bridal shower,

so not much time to share today.

I definitely have some eye-poppin' COLOR, though!

There are a variety of challenges going on right now

that are calling for a cupcake-theme, so I thought

I would create something that was fun and out

of the box for me.

I really wanted to show of those fabulous Martha

rhinestones, but you know photos just can't get

the right light...well, my camera doesn't anyway.

Here are the challenges I am entering

(it's a bit of a list...how fun!)

City Crafter has a brand new challenge.

Mona Pendleton is the Guest Designer this week.

We are wonderful friends and I love her work!

My cyber-friend Heather Jensen is on the team

over there and she is WAY talented!

Card Patterns is being sponsored by 

Limelight Papercrafts

this week so I designed this card with their

sketch in mind.

The Crazy Challenge also has yummy goodness

on their minds with cupcakes!

I am also entering the following:

Pile it On ~ 'Sweet' things

Penny's Paper Crafty ~ Anything goes

Sew Many Challenges ~ Anything goes

Fussy & Fancy ~ Birthday with a Sweet Treat

My Time to Craft ~ Quick Quotes

Crafty Catz ~ Stitching

I think that's it!  How about that!

Many of you know, color challenges are my passion

but it's been nice to go outside the box a bit and play

with these wonderful challenges.

Of course, don't forget that

The Play Date Cafe Challenge is still going on

for this week.  We have a wonderful sponsor

and there is still time for you to play!

Have a great day!