Sunday, November 30, 2008

First Sunday in Advent

Today is the First Sunday in Advent. I love the Advent Season and all that comes with it. We decorated our church last night and today lit the first Advent candle in the wreath, and sang glorious Christmas music. It was the beginning of a special season. I hope to be able to enjoy what Advent is all about, rather than being frantic and so busy that I can't take time for what I want to celebrate (For more on Advent, read all the way through this post.).

Today is also the SCS Featured Stamper Challenge, and I was so pleased for my friend, Dawn {flowergal36}, who was chosen this week. I used a new December 1st release set from Our Daily Bread Designs, "I Wait for the Lord", for my card today! It has a beautiful Advent wreath, as well as several sentiments and verses. See the whole set tomorrow HERE. Kelley (the owner of ODBD) is offering free shipping through today, and also a chance for some blog candy HERE.


The Featured Stamper Challenge requires that at least two things are changed on the card of the chosen stamper. You can see the card of Dawn's that I chose to case ("copy and steal everything") HERE. I kept her quilt idea and layout, and changed the stamp images, as well as the background paper and ribbon placement. I also added some sewing with my Janome!

Thanks for coming to my blog today! If you would like to read more about the Advent Season, and the Advent Wreath, keep reading! Otherwise I hope to see you back tomorrow for a glitzy House Mouse Challenge!

Celebrating Advent

Advent is a season of waiting, expecting, and hoping. Beginning four Sundays prior to Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve, Advent helps us to prepare for the coming, or "advent" of the Christ child at Christmas. (The word "advent" comes from the Latin word that means "coming.")

For hundreds of years Christians have used an Advent wreath to inspire their hopes for the coming of Christ. By lighting candles and reading Bible verses, we are reminded about the meaning of Christ's birth and become more excited about his coming in the past, in the future, and in our own lives.

There is no set meaning for the candles of the Advent wreath (except for the middle candle, which always signifies the birth of Jesus the Christ). Some wreaths use all white candles; others use three purple candles, one pink candle, and one white candle in the middle. The purple candles remind us of how serious and solemn God's people have been in waiting for the Messiah. The pink signifies the joy of our waiting. The white is triumphant and celebrative because Christ is born.

Today we sang Joy to the World, Immanuel (by Stuart Townend - a fabulous contemporary Advent hymn), Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus and Infant Holy, Infant Lowly. Now I have Christmas music playing (Jim Brickman) and am ready to start decorating the house!

Enjoy your week!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Snow Paper Inspired~


I opened, mounted and inked up a new (to me) set for today's SCS Inspiration Challenge.
I have a lot of new rubber that I haven't had time to use, so before I even saw the challenge, I decided I needed to use a never-inked set. This one (Season of Friendship by Stampin' Up!) fit perfectly for this wrapping paper (Whimsy Press):
My little bird is stamped twice, cut out, and mounted on dimensionals. The crystal gems are really clear, but seem to be reflecting the Baja Breeze color and look blue in the photo.

Thanks for visiting my blog today! Don't forget that Our Daily Bread designs is offering free shipping this weekend and BLOG CANDY too! In addition to beautiful stamp sets, they carry Scor-Pal, wonderful papers (I get all my metallic paper there), Dew Drops, and all sorts of accessories and cleaners!

Stamps: Season of Friendship
Paper: Real Red, Baja Breeze, Confetti White, unknown DP
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Baja Breeze
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon, crystal gems, crystal stickles
Techniques: sponging

Friday, November 28, 2008

Penguins are Cool, but Crystal Effects Everywhere Isn't!

So today for the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge I made this card:
We were to only use three or fewer layers, embellishments, colors and stamps. We also had to incorporate pink somewhere. I love these fun little penguins and tried to follow the rules! ;)
But when I was all done, I felt it needed something else. So I added a few things and came up with this:

The moral of the story? LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE. I decided the ice cube in the first picture needed to be moved to the foreground, so I stamped another, cut it out and mounted it on dimensionals. Even that would have been fine -- until I decided to add Crystal Effects and make the ice cubes shiny. Well, the little tip was stopped up, so I took off the lid, and looked for a Q-tip to use to apply it. No Q-tips! So, brilliant stamper that I am, I thought I would just pour a little on the ice cube. EEK!!!!!!! About a half dollar sized amount came out all over the ice cube, the penguins, the snow, EVERYWHERE! I was not amused. I quickly scraped it off as best I could -- and hoped that my camera (which is a pretty good one) would not show the mess in the "after" picture! Hmmm..... I think it's time to go do laundry.....

So now I am leaving my other projects, which I had intended to show today, for another day. But here is a fun shopping spree coupon!

If you don't want to leave the confines of your house to huddle with the masses in check-out lines, get free shipping!

Thanks for stopping by today! ;)

Stamps: Hambo Stamps: Penguins - 0920; Stay Cool - 1516; Ice Cube - 1406
Paper: GP White, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Black Stazon, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Crystal Stickles, organdy ribbon, large oval punch, designer label punch, Cuttlebug EF


Thursday, November 27, 2008

A Blessed Thanksgiving to All!

A blessed day to all of you! I hope you each are able to spend time today with friends or family~
And if you have time, read President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation. It is something that we have always enjoyed reading.

Thank you to those who expressed concern and prayers for my daughter's surgery yesterday! She is doing very well! I appreciate your comments and support!

Today I would like to share with you one of the delightful new sets by Our Daily Bread Designs. Kelley has such beautiful images, scriptures, and sentiments. One of the new sets is I Wait for the Lord, which includes this beautiful Advent wreath, as well as several verses and sentiments. The "Rejoice" sentiment is actually from the second new set being released December 1st: Worship the Lord. Have a peek at Kelley's blog -- yesterday I was featured as Card of the Day!

I made this card using the sketch at Sketches! by Tamara and tweaked it a little to fit my design. This beautiful designer paper is Evensong by Close to My Heart.

Tomorrow I will be back to show you what I designed with the church scene from Worship the Lord and I will have a special shopping spree coupon for you!

In the meantime, I want to say a big welcome to Betty Wright! She is the newest member of the ODBD DT and we are thrilled to have her expertise and creativity, as well as her warm and fun personality! Check out her blog here:
Betty - BLOG CANDY for Worship the Lord too!

(All Design Team members are listed in the sidebar! Take a peek at their blogs!)

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy your day - and help root for the Cowboys against the Seahawks!! :)
Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Birthday to Holly!

I want to say a big heartfelt "Happy Birthday!" to my friend, Holly (known on SCS as Toy) today! She is celebrating with family today and I hope is having a wonderful day. I had planned to post a little something for Holly this morning, but it is getting pushed to tomorrow.

Today my daughter had surgery on her arm to have a benign tumor removed, and I haven't had a chance to get to my stamp room to finish up Holly's card. But I think I will have time after dinner tomorrow. So, Holly, know that a little "something" is coming your way next week in the mail!

In the meantime, TODAY is the last day for the awesome sale at Hambo Stamps. Be sure to check it out!! It is the last sale of this year!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Goodness and Light


Today's SCS Color Challenge was a challenge, as I wanted to make a Christmas card! The colors were Very Vanilla, Really Rust and Going Gray. I found a perfect (last!) piece of designer paper from my DCWV Old World Matstack, and used that as my backdrop for this sweet image from Joy to the World (Our Daily Bread Designs).

The image and sentiment are stamped with Basic Gray dye ink (Stampin' Up!) and colored with Really Rust, Basic Gray, and a combination of the two (for my "brown"). I added a few accessories (Magic Mesh, hardware from CTMH, and a Cuttlebug die cut), distressed the edges, and popped everything up on dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check back tomorrow for a birthday surprise!! Thursday and Friday I will have sneak peeks of the new December releases from Our Daily Bread Designs (and a special shopping experience for Black Friday!).

Don't forget the HAMBO STAMPS sale!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Even a Mouse Loves Chocolate and Pearls!

Last Friday, I hosted the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. And in light of this month’s Dirty Dozen/Fan Club Gallery theme ("Chick Lit"), I chose one of my favorite (children’s) books (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory) as our LSC theme (and Johnny Depp wasn’t bad in that movie – or Chocolat -- either – haha!).
Here are the deets:
Limit: Your creation should have some sort of chocolate theme, either with color, stamp and ink choices, or embellishments
Stamps: any
(but themed ones would be fun: candy, cupcakes, chocolate “moose” for you Riley fans, hot chocolate, etc.)
Cardstock and ink: at least one shade of chocolate, plus any others – including white chocolate!
Embellishments and tools: any

Here is what I came up with:
My little mousies are having the time of their lives with that yummy candy from Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory! I used Basic Grey's Blush DP and added ribbon by American Crafts. Pearls are by The Paper Studio, and the border punch is Martha Stewart. The sentiment ("sweet") is from Stampin' Up!'s So Very stamp set.

Ok, know what I find really funny about that last paragraph? I always laugh when I read in magazines (like People or whatever) what "stars" are wearing -- shoes by so-and-so, handbag by so-and-so, jeans/shirt/jacket/etc. by so-and-so. I am always thinking "I have never heard of those people so who cares?" Except that I just did the same thing! And I know most of you know who/what I am talking about. haha! Guess it's just the world I live in - I am always stamping in jeans and a t-shirt! By WalMart! hahaha!

Be sure to check out more House Mouse cards HERE. The Design Team for House Mouse & Friends were supposed to use polka-dots on their cards today. I have them on my DP, but also carried the theme with the pearls, punch and piercing!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to read about the great SALE going on at Hambo Stamps HERE!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Who Doesn't Love a SALE????





Hambo 30% Off Sale Event!

For 3 days - Mon. 11/24 through Wed., 11/26

Hambo Stamps is offering 30% off
all regular-priced stamps.



The following rules apply during this event:


1. The discount applies only to stamps ordered during these 3 days. (Beginning at 12:01 am EST Monday, Nov. 24, and ending at midnight Wednesday, Nov. 26 EST)

2. The discount applies only to stamps that are in stock, with no back-orders included.

3. There is a limit of 2 of each design/saying

4. Stamps on our "Seconds" and "Retiring" pages can still be purchased for the sale prices listed, though the 30% discount will NOT be applied to these.

5. The free shipping offer does NOT apply during this sale event, though we will only charge ACTUAL shipping on all orders as usual.

6.
Orders will be filled in the order in which they're received. Because this is a first-come, first-served type of thing, you MUST include your name, mailing address and mounted/unmounted preference with your order. If we have to email you to clarify any of these details, you could lose your place in the order line-up.

What an awesome sale!! Be sure to send your order to info@hambostamps.com !!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Need a Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner Dish?

Today I am busy catching up on Design Team work (sneak peeks next week!!), cleaning my house and doing laundry, burning CDs with photographs from musicals for cast members, and planning next week's dinner!

If you are looking for a last minute, day-before "fluff" dish to take to a dinner, or to make for your own, here is a super easy dish:

Cranberry Fluff

INGREDIENTS
2 (12 ounce) packages fresh cranberries
1 cup white sugar
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 pint heavy whipping cream
7 ounces miniature marshmallows (these can even be optional!)

Coarsely chop the cranberries in a food processor; put in a large, non-metal bowl and mix in the sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Whip the cream until stiff. Add the pineapple and nuts to the cranberries, mix well. Fold in whipped cream and marshmallows; refrigerate until ready to serve. You can even serve this slightly frozen and it's yummy!

And if you are not a "fluff" dish person, check out this new recipe I found at Kraft Foods:

Cranberry-Pineapple Minis

INGREDIENTS
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, in juice
2 pkg. (3 oz. each) raspberry flavor gelatin
1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce
2/3 cup walnut pieces (optional)
1 apple, chopped

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to measure 2-1/2 cups; pour into saucepan. Bring to boil. Pour over gelatin mixes in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved.
Stir in pineapple, cranberry sauce, nuts and apple. Spoon into 24 paper-lined 2-1/2-inch muffin cups. Refrigerate 2-1/2 hours or until firm. Remove liners.

I will be back tomorrow with some fun stuff and some news! Hope to see you then!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

I Would Love to See a Snowflake This Close


I would love to see a snowflake this close-up. I am sure there are so many intricate patterns in each one, but they melt before you can see them -- or else they don't melt and make one big glob of a drift! This beautiful snowflake is from a set by Close to My Heart (CTMH) called New Fallen Snow. It has six beautiful flakes that are each unique.

My sketch is from Sketches! by Tamara. Click here to see what the rest of the Design Team did. Today's SCS Ways To Use It Challenge is all about pearls! I love pearls - they have long been my favorite embellishment (when I have them!) and they are definitely my favorite jewelry.

The piercing is done with an Ornare Piercing Template. You can purchase this at Our Daily Bread Designs, and see many others, HERE. I love the look of the different designs. The metallic paper is Prism's Metallic Silver and is available here.
On a totally different note, if you are looking for a unique gift (for a grandparent or loved one far away - perhaps a soldier!), then check out My Canvas. It is the best site I have found for creativity and design in photo books!


Stamps: New Fallen Snow by Close To My Heart (CTMH)
Paper: Whisper White, Prism Metallic Silver, Night of Navy
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Cuttlebug EF, Pretties Kit, Silver Filagree Brads, navy organdy ribbon, Ornare piercing template


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Hambo Christmas Challenge!


Every time someone on the Hambo DT gets an inkling for a challenge, the game is on! Our last challenge involved using the Fingerprint stamp. I had so much fun with that one. You can see all my Hambo Stamps projects by clicking the Hambo labels link in the sidebar (down a little ways). Our new challenge (suggested by Jane) was to make a Christmas card using a non-Christmas image. We were allowed to use a holiday sentiment, but the image was to be the creative part. Here is what I came up with:


I used my favorite little firefly (or lightning bug, to some) to light up someone's holiday with his "Merry and Bright" wishes! He is stamped twice and then popped up on dimensionals. His wings are covered with Crystal Stickles. The dots around the sentiment border are made with a Bliss Blue Stampin' Up! marker.

Be sure to check out what the other Design Team members did:
Monica (Our fearless leader and owner!)
Jane (Whose crazy idea was this??)
Holly
Libby
MacKenzie

Stamps: Lightning Bug - 1416; Merry and Bright - 0720 (Hambo Stamps)
Paper: Georgia Pacific White, Bashful Blue, Prisma Metallic Silver, unknown DP
Ink: Black Stazon, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Yoyo Yellow. Baja Breeze
Accessories: Nestabilities, snowflake brads, silver brads, organdy and grosgrain ribbon, heat gun (to curl ribbon), Crystal and Silver Stickles


Saturday, November 15, 2008

Inspired by The Felted Garden

I love the ideas that SCS Inspiration Challenge Hostess Stef finds for us each week. Today's challenge was to choose an item from The Felted Garden. I chose this scarf: I loved the colors and used that as my inspiration, as well as the flowers. The wreath is made up of tiny individal peg stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry. I used SFL4056 Waving Wildflowers, which you can see HERE.


My sentiment is #1502 Friends from Hambo Stamps. I used my heat gun to curl the edges of my ribbon a bit. This card measures approx. 5.75 in. square.

Thanks for visiting my blog today! I hope you will come again!

Stamps: Hambos Stamps: 1502 Friends; Rubber Stamp Tapestry: SFL4056 Waving Wildflowers
Paper: Georgia Pacific White, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Prisma Metallic Gold, Antique Brcoade DP by The Paper Studio
Ink: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Encore Gold
Accessories: paper piercer, ticket corner punch, Bitty Brads by CTMH, Cuttlebug EF, gems, organdy ribbon, heat gun



Thursday, November 13, 2008

More Pink and a New Sketch!

Today over at Sketches! by Tamara the Design Team will show their creations made with this sketch:
I made a pink (gasp! lol) card using two November releases from Our Daily Bread Designs: Psalm 23 and Lord is My Shepherd.

I really liked this sketch - I think it has lots of possibilities. As you can see, I moved my image to the right so that the whole Psalm could be seen.

Thanks for stopping by - I especially love hearing what you think about what I have made, and if you have any suggestions!

Stamps: Psalm 23 and Lord is My Shepherd (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Georgia Pacific White, Rose Romance (retired SU!), Pink Pirouette (SU!), Luxury Stack by DCWV
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Rose Romance (retired SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug EF, organdy ribbon, grosgrain ribbon, distressing tool, Pretties kit, Nestabilities


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Stamping Friends are the Best!

I just love stamping! Not a new revelation, is it?! But it sure is a lot of fun. I have met so many wonderful people through stamping that are so talented and creative. Today I want to direct you to another blog: Linda Borneman's My Little Yellow House. Linda makes some amazing cards and is such a sweet person. I am glad to know her!

As you may know, pink is one of my favorite colors, and this card, made with Flourished Christian Symbols from Our Daily Bread Designs, was just calling for pink as I was deciding on the colors to use.

There are some really nice sentiments with this set (reduced scale here), along with two other beautiful images: And finally, Happy Veteran's Day! To all those families and to the soldiers that serve and have served our country, THANK YOU! (The following picture was taken on a family trip to Washington D.C.)
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope to have the musical pictures up later this afternoon for those that are interested!

Stamps: Flourished Christians Symbols(Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette (SU!)
Ink: VersaFine Black, Rose Romance (retired SU!)
Accessories: hardware flower and brad, Cuttlebug EF, organdy ribbon, silver cord, distressing tool, square brad



Monday, November 10, 2008

It's House Mouse Monday and It's Toad-ily Fun!

Today's House Mouse & Friends Challenge was to use something out of our junk drawer! Isn't it funny how there was no question of someone NOT having a junk drawer! Everyone does! Some are neater than others, I'm sure! Mine is not. But I did find, amidst the JUNK, this twine that I used on my card today. I got out my sewing machine added some stitched frames with black thread. The designer paper is by Basic Grey - some I have had for a long time.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the team did HERE. Lots of fun stuff in their junk drawers too!

I would like to also introduce you to a new Blogger! Her name is Jane Wetzel and she is on the Design Team for Our Daily Bread Designs with me. She is Anything But Plain Jane! Way to go, Jane!

Last week I posted a request to please pray for Ali Schmidlin, daughter of Laurie and Urs. Ali has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family was in Seattle this last week to consult with doctors about next steps and a biopsy. Please pray that the tumor is benign and that steps can be taken to return Ali to good health! She is 12 years old. The family was able to return home for a few weeks and that is great news! To read more about Ali, and for updates, CLICK HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Happy Birthday Wishes!!


Today is my son's 20th birthday! Happy Birthday, Steven!!
I wish I was in North Carolina today to help him celebrate!

I actually made this little birthday card today for the SCS Featured Stamper Challenge - and for someone else other than my son (he has his already!). My friend, Wendy, was chosen for this week's FS and I am so happy for her! I cased her beautiful card HERE. Wendy does elegant so beautifully, that I decided to change the style of the card to whimsical and fun. Congratulations, Wendy!! You really deserve this honor today! I changed images and colors, and moved the placement of the sentiment to the opposite corner. What looks like a balloon blob, is actually Silver Stickles! The Metallic paper has such a beautiful sheen to it (which of course doesn't show in the picture! lol).

I made this for Tim's birthday (yesterday!) Tim is the illustrator for all the fun and whimsical Hambo Stamps (including this little worm!). Hope your day was a happy one, Timbo! You can see some of Tim's drawings HERE.

And some great news: I finally got my computer back! Yay! So now I can get back to regular uploads and posts! Tomorrow I will have a fun House Mouse card, so be sure to stop back. I will also be posting some pictures from the musical I just finished working on!
Hope you are having a terrific day!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Blog Candy Winner and a Sketch!


Computers woes are still in our midst, as no computer in sight! I am still using the one at work, and can't upload pictures, but I did already have this one done and in my email!

I made this for Tamara's sketch today. You can find out how to play along and see all the Design Team sketches HERE.

And now for my blog candy winner! Sorry this is late. Not having a computer is so inconvenient! :) I used Random.org

Here are your random numbers:
7

Timestamp: 2008-11-06 13:34:05 UTC

CONGRATULATIONS to Sabrina!! She is #7 and will receive Psalm 23 from Our Daily Bread Designs! Thanks to everyone that played! Sabrina, hopefully it won't take three weeks on the journey!

Stamps: Printworks
Paper: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Gray, Basic Black
Ink: VersaFine Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug EF, Pomegranate Satin Ribbon, silver bead gems

Saturday, November 1, 2008

New Releases and Blog Candy Today !!

Today at Our Daily Bread Designs, there is lots going on! The new releases are now available and you can see them HERE. We are also welcoming three new designers, Sita Mahedeo, Jami Bova, and Lorelie Kim. Jami and Lorelie have been Guest Designers and we are so excited to have them on the regular team now, in addition to Sita! Be sure to check out their blogs and galleries for all of their wonderful creations! Click on the links in the sidebar below for a trip to the Design Team's blogs.

Kelley is now carrying some really neat Ornare piercing templates, which I love, and some awesome new designer paper. Take a stroll through the ODBD Website and see what's new!
And as a special treat, I am offering Psalm 23 as blog candy this weekend! My first card made with this stamp is HERE. You can see more samples HERE. To enter, leave a comment with your favorite new release for November or choose from the October releases as well (Reason for the Season, Footprints in the Sand, We Three Kings, Flourished Christian Symbols)! I will choose a winner on Monday afternoon.

On a very sad note, our sweet and dear friend Laurie Schmidlin, who is on the ODBD DT, as well as many others, is in need of fervent prayers for her daughter, Ali. Please pray for Ali, as she has a very serious medical condition right now.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am hoping that my regular computer will be back soon, so I can upload some of the things I have been working on!