Saturday, November 30, 2013

November Crafter's of Faith Challenge

Here is the scripture that Darlene selected for our group this month:
Matthew 10;13-16
"People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them."  









I thought this sweet vintage image was so perfect of a child reading perhaps this very chapter in Matthew from the Family Bible. When books were not so plentiful in homes centuries ago, parents taught their children how to read by using the Bible. Is this not a wonderful way to bring your children to Jesus today? I am sorry to say that this was not a practice I did in my home. Perhaps parents can be wiser than I was and see the value in teaching the Words of truth to their children at a very young age.








JUGS217

When I saw that the challenge was a wild card this week over at just Us Girls this week, and the challenge was one layered cards, I just had to take part. Besides, I have been out of town all week, and after putting up my tree, I decided it was time to catch up on some challenges that I could make into Christmas cards. I am also using this one for the Free 4 All Challenge that I am catching up on that had the theme, SNOW. I also put this in my Splitcoaststampers' gallery.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Weekly Christmas Card Challenge #52

I keep all of my wood mounted Christmas rubber stamps in a storage bin that slides under my bed for the majority of the year. Last week I got it out and decided some of these stamps needed to be used this season. This is one from a retired set from Stampin' Up. It was a great one that will always be a classic in my collection. I have been browsing finding some challenges I have not had the time to visit on a weekly basis, as my personal challenge for November has been to make a Christmas card for every challenge I do this month as a way of getting my cards done so I can get them addressed and mailed. I love making only one of most of the cards I make. I find it boring to mass produce. It uses up too much of the same papers and the best part of making cards is the creating part for me.
So the challenge I found today is the Weekly Christmas Card Challenge #52 ( I guess if I had been doing this challenge all along, I would have my cards done, won't I?) I guess I don't have to tell you it is my nature to procrastinate. The theme for this week was Faith. I love making cards that reflect the real reason for the season, the birth of my Lord and Savior. Thanks for coming by to check out my blog and my efforts at getting my cards made for the season. May the light of His love touch you in very special ways this Christmas season. .

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Less is More 147

Today's challenge on Less is More is to use a bird on the card. I discovered this beautiful shimmery midnight blue paper in my stash and it hadn't even been opened. It is from PTI. I tore the white to look like snow on the ground. I stamped the silhouette and sentiment in tuxedo black. Pretty clean and simple, but that pretty blue paper sure gave this a touch of serenity and elegance. Three stamps were used: the bird on the branch is from Stampabilities; the berries from an SU set, and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

ODBDSLC179

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

The above lyrics are from Casting Crowns' "While You were Sleeping." It is what inspired me to do this card. That City of Bethlehem background stamp is the only Christmas stamp I have from Our Daily Bread Designs, but I decided to add this head of Christ, which is also from ODBD to this card to send the powerful message of just who this Holy Babe grew to be. I used the rhinestone cross in the star to remind us of the precious gift of salvation which is ours through the cross, the real reason for the season. You can find the ODBDSLC here.

JUGS 216

 
Below was a picture that was my source of inspiration. I used the spots, stripes, colors, and stockings as part of my inspiration. I am also on a personal challenge this month to make most of the challenge cards I make to be a Christmas card so I will not be rushing around the first week of December trying to get cards made and under stress the MOJO just doesn't always flow. KWIM???
http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge #285


 


This is for the Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge #285 to use brown and pink. Of course, I wanted it to have a Christmas theme so this is my creation. The poinsettia diecut is from Spellbinders and the stamp is from Stampendous.

Freshly Made Sketch Challenge #113

 Trying a new challenge out while I am meeting my personal daily challenge to make at least a few Christmas cards a day using different challenges as my motivation. This sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #113. The stamp is from Stampendous (I think).

Sweet Sketch 233

 
Loved this layout for the Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge today. I used Basic Grey design paper and Baja breeze and white.
 
 My personal challenge has been to make at least one Christmas card a day using one of the fun challenges I find on The Daily Dare. Hopefully by the first week of December I will have my cards all made and will start to address and mail them out. No two are alike, so the fun part is deciding who gets what card!!
 
 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Make my Monday on Wednesday

This is for the Make my Monday challenge, which I am doing on Wednesday. The theme of the week is Santa, the Big Guy.  This is one of my favorite images of Santa. The stamp is from Rubber Stampede. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up. I have never really done this in the red and white before, but like how it turned out. The striped ribbon just seem to fit perfect.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

House Mouse Favorite things


This is for the current House Mouse challenge. This little peppermint loving House Mouse is perfect for the Christmas season. I found some candy cane striped ribbon in my stash which I thought went really nicely with this. The gold chrome panel did not photograph well. It looks much better in real life. I embossed the white cardbase.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Paper Players Challenge #172


One of my self challenges this month has been to do challenges and use a Christmas theme for each one. That way I will get my Christmas cards made and it will be creative and fun long the way. I never make any two cards alike as it is, so this makes it more fun and motivates me to get this task done. Today I am using the challenge, a new one for me to try, at Paper Players. The challenge this week is to may a CAS card using leaves. So, holly leaves it is for me. My idea of CAS may differ from some, but to me it is an almost white card, for the most part one layer, and absent of the usual embellishments of ribbon and rhinestones that I so love to use on most of my work. For this card I masked the strip for the sentiment, stamped the leaves with tuxedo black ink, colored them with Copic markers, and drew lines with a gold leaf marker. Because my markers bled through the cardstock, I mounted it on a basic black card base. So here is my one card CAS wonder. Hope you like it.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

JUGS215

This week's challenge on Just Us Girls was a color challenge to use: red, kraft, dark brown and white. Here is my card. The solid cardstock is from Stampin' Up, the design paper is from Martha Stewart, the so is the stamp of the sentiment. The wreath is cute from a floral Spellbinder set that matches the Sweet Williams set from ODBD. I added a Spellbinder label as well. The kraft cardstock was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then rich cocoa ink was rubbed over it. I added red rhinestones and white punched circles to the wreath. The ribbons are from Stampin' Up as well.

ODBDSLC178


Done for this sketch this week over for the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining Light Challenge:'

 
I used the Sweet Williams set from Our Daily Bread for my card and the matching Spellbinder diecut for the wreath. The design paper is from Basic Grey. Seam binding and rhinestone trim was added for the extra embellishments.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge

I
It's going to be getting to look a lot like Christmas over here on my blog as I am starting my own personal challenge to make a Christmas card with the challenges that I take part in .Hopefully, to get at least a couple done every day in November.   This challenge is a new site for me: Incy Wincy Designs Challenge. It was a sketch challenge today. I've only had one white Christmas in my lifetime where I live, so snowmen cards are a real fantasy for me.

Check back by every day to see how I'm doing on my personal Christmas challenge.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

ODBDSLC177

I love getting the chance to play the Our Daily Bread Design Shining Light Challenge. I found the time this afternoon just before the 8 PM deadline this evening. The challenge was a song or music inspired card. This is my latest stamp from ODBD and I hadn't even had the chance to get ink on it before today. So, I inked it up with some night of navy ink and stamped it onto some soft sky cardstock and mounted it onto a blue bayou card base. The white poinsettia was diecut with the Spellbinder poinsettia set. The star led the way to the new born King, but I used a rhinestone cross on top of the star to remind us of the incredible gift of salvation that baby King brought to earth. I am proud to announce Christ is the Lord of my life, and "Christmas" to me means "More Christ!"

CAS on Sunday #21

 

 
The challenge for CAS on Sunday was to make a one layered card.  I used a lacey stamp that I am not sure of the resource and the sentiment is a Martha Stewart stamp. I added two rhinestones to this quick and easy card that took less than 10 minutes to make. Those are the kinds I need to remember if I get behind on my Christmas card stash and need a few quick ones to make and send.

Monday, November 4, 2013

MOJO 318


I used Verve stamps for this MOJO sketch. I love this sentiment and I used double flowers. The design papers are from Basic Grey and Graphics 45.

FTTC 244


The challenge for the last Florishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge was to use a plaid. I thought this would make a cute baby card, maybe for the patents of twins. even. I paper pieced the onesie and added diaper pin brads to the tabs.  This is a Flourish set called "Hello, Baby!"