Winter green Tilda

Do you have 'happy' and 'sad' stamps? I've noticed when I'm sad I reach for my Tildas. I've been paper piecing four of them the last two days and it soothes something inside of me. I seem to pull them out when I'm feeling a bit blue.

This fits a sketch challenge at Just Magnolia. I bought this gorgeous, wide ribbon at Michael's a few weeks ago intending to help use it to dress up a Tilda and went searching for a sketch this morning that would suit it. I know it is awfully large, but such a rich ribbon. You can see the sketch challenge here.

I used PTI's Damask Designs on gold cardstock from Gina K's, embossed in gold with gold tinsel embossing powder, to try to match the nature of the ribbon. Tilda is paper pieces with a piece of SU DP, sorry, don't know the type. It has tiny red dots in it, so part of her sleeve is red. Martha Stewart branch punch in two types of gold paper for some of the embellishments. If you look at the sketch there are five graduated circles on it, I used roses with a jingle bell to make a large cluster since I didn't have a large jingle bell and the height would make it near impossible to mail this card if I did. Then I used different sizes of rhinestones for the two smallest circles.

So what are your New Year's traditions? When the kids were younger we used to sit down and make a list of all the things we were thankful for from the previous year and what we would be praying for in the year to come. Its hard to corral them now that most of them are so much older, but I find today a good day to reflect on the blessings of the past year and there are many. Thanks for looking and have a safe, happy and health new year!

New Year's Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge #19

Happy Sunday stampers! This card is up a bit late today. . . we were up late last night. Combine the fact that I was laboring under the delusion most of yesterday that it was Friday, with an emotional bubble that burst late in the evening, and you have a late post.

Anyway, this is for challenge #19 with Stampin' Sisters in Christ, and our lovely hostess this week is Lisa who has chosen the verse from Psalm 25:4-5, "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day long."

The challenge is to create a New Year's Card. Lisa tells us that as we embark on the new year, let all of our resolutions include focusing on God's word and teachings and following the path He has laid for us.

Our sponsor this week is the Cutting Cafe and they are donating any three digi sets to one lucky winner. Check out the main blog here for more details, or visit the Cutting Cafe here. The owner donated some new year's digi stamps to the entire design team and I had a favorite picked out right away, the verse on my card, do you see it? What a great resolution and I thought it fit in so nicely with Lisa's verse. Because God is love and following the path he has laid out for me means in part loving the people he has placed in my life, more, and deeply, each year that passes.

The new year is a great opportunity to practice that! The penguin is a Memory Box stamp and the paper is from Papertrey Ink. Thanks for looking. Happy stamping!

Inspirational Penguin PTI blog hop

My computer is refusing to hook up to the internet, and that is where my PTI blog hop logo resides, so here is my post for the hop from my husband's computer, I'll try to add the logo later if I can.

My inspiration is going to seem a bit odd, but here you go. My youngest daughter made a clay penguin in school that she brought home right before Christmas break. He has lived right next to the nativity set since then and when I'm not looking, she moves him right in front and center instead of by the sheep and the cows where I had placed him. Notice where he is in this photo.

This is significant because not only is he the cutest little penguin, she made sure the whole family got to enjoy the penguin she made. This is big news because my youngest child has RAD. I don't have time to explain all of what that entails, but we've had her home with us for five years (she is eight) and I am seeing significant progress with attachment this year -- this is one sign of it. And that is a great Christmas present.

So using the penguin as my inspiration, I chose the little owl from the newest PTI set Tiny Treats: Valentines because of his outstretched wings remind me of the penguin (plus he's a bird too). I am going to give this card to my littlest daughter. I've had this in my head for a while, I'm pretty pleased with the card that resulted. Thanks for looking and happy hopping. P.S. . . . Stole the layout from a card by Melissa Phillips.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my friends. Wishing you joy and peace this holiday season.

My favorite reference to Jesus is Emmanuel because it means "God with us." Christmas is the time when heaven reached down to earth to deliver to us a savior, who lived here, with us, part of us, because God loved us so much. I find such comfort and peace in that word, Emmanuel.

Looking forward to a new year of celebrating our Lord and to stamping with all of you! Big hugs!

Some Big Family News

Do you see my smiling daughter? Do you see her smiling with someone else? Tonight we have happy family news! My dear oldest daughter is engaged to a wonderful young man she has been dating for seven(?) years. He is a part of the family already and now it is just going to be official.

I will wait until someone with better photography skills than I possess can take a close up of the ring, it is gorgeous. But not as gorgeous to me as those two smiling faces.

The only one who is a bit sad is my youngest daughter, who is only eight and thinks this will take away her big sister, who is very, very special to her. She wants them to come live with us when they are married. :)

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 18

Happy Sunday stampers! The week zips by so quickly sometimes, hard to believe we're so close to Christmas now! But the reminder is the wonderful story in scripture that our hostess Kathy chose for this week from Luke 1:26-32.

"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored? The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David." (NIV)

This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. If you want to see the layout check out the home page here, where you also can catch a glimpse of the beautiful samples from other members of the design team. Our sponsor is Scrapbook News and Review magazine, filled with great tips for not just scrapbook layouts but papercrafting in general. One lucky winner will get a three month subscription.

My friend Linda in Maryland kept talking about all the snow they are getting this weekend, so when I went to my stamp table on Friday I had snow on the brain. Here you have yet another blue, silver and white card. I promise, I do have other colors in my stash. The one deviation I made from the sketch is that I incorporated my three dots or three little specks in the right hand corner into my circle otherwise they wouldn't have worked. Thanks for looking and we hope you get a chance to play along!

Stamps: Verve snowflake set (sentiment), Stampin' Up Scandinavian Season

Ink: silver craft

Paper: PTI spring rain, Holly something flocked DP, PTI white, silver and shimmery white dp random

Other: rhinestones, silver tinsel EP, snowflake punch, paper lace, SU fancy brad, silver cord, Martha Stewart chunky glitter

Frosted Windowpanes . . . Stampin' Sisters in Christ #17

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ. This week's hostess is the talented Kristine, one of the challenge blog's founders. That makes her sound old or something . . ."founder." :) She's not!

Her verse this week is from Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal." And the challenge this week is to use 'treasures' on your card, gems, pearls, glitter, bling! Bling it up!

Our sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp. Any stamper who enters a card using bling is eligible to win the cutest little stamp set! I think I might create an anonymous account and enter to win it myself. :)

This card is blingy but you can tell I had winter on my mind because we have a good covering of snow and if you live where you get lots of snow you know all about the glitter it reflects when the sun is shining on it. Also, the other day my window in the kitchen was completed frosted over and I wondered if you could recreate that look in a card.

Not only does this card use a lot of bling or treasure, I also thought of what we as women so often treasure in our hearts . . . our homes. That's where our family is, that is where we hope to have love, togetherness, peace, rest and warmth. We will have all those things and more in our heavenly homes but I wish you all of that and more during this Christmas season.

So, for the card . . . I used Tim Holtz' distress crackle in Rock Candy for the first time a little over a week ago and I'm addicted. I think I need to get a gallon jug instead of the cute little bottle they sell . . . there has to be a gallon jug for refills somewhere.

I painted the crackle on a piece of acetate and pasted it in the opening of my card for my 'window.' In the close up you can tell that you really can see the scene on the inside of my shadowbox card, except when the light is reflecting directly off the crackle.

I stamped SU's backgrounder Fine Lace in white craft on white and embossed with white detail powder. Then stamped the wreath in silver and added silver tinsel embossing powder. Loaded it up with gems and stickles for my wreath's baubles.

I stamped the house from Stampin' Up's To You & Yours inking it in Brilliant Blue and then overinking with Not Quite Navy to tone it down. Then I toned it 'up' by using the dazzling diamond dust technique over the image. For that you press a versamark pad on your image, sprinkle with Irridescent Ice embossing powder and emboss. The whole thing sparkles amazingly, hard to capture in a photo. Stamped and added the sentiment, added a ribbon to complement the bling and voila! My winter scene. You are inside with your white wallpaper looking through the frosty window, framed by the wreath at your neighbor's house nearby, at twilight, which is why their house is blue. :) Thanks for looking, hope you're able to play along this week.