Guest Designer from Majestic Memories!

I would like to extend a big welcome to my friend Michelle - owner and creator of beautiful scrapbooks - from Majestic Memories! She created this beautiful card using the 3 Twenty Crafts, Winter Wonderland stamp set. Michelle embossed one of the winter trees with the Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powders and then added some matching stickles for accent and shimmer. She also used some of the Tim Holtz Distress ink to accent the edges of the card and paper.

 On the inside she used the same stamp and inking technique as on the outside of the card to bring it all together.

The sentiment is just beautiful - the greatest gift of all is having you by my side. Perfect for any occasion for that special someone! The sentiment stamp is a sneak peak from 3 Twenty Craft's newest release! You'll need to stay tuned to find out what stamp set it's from and to see the rest of the set!

So what have you been creating?

Funday Friday Challenge #37 - More Fun!

Welcome to another Funday Friday Challenge. This week's Challenge is:

"Valentine’s Day"

Create a card, layout or project for Valentine's Day!

 Our sponsor this week is:

3 Twenty Crafts

 So make sure to play along this week~you don’t want to miss a chance for a great prize!
This week's prize is a $10 gift certificate to 3 Twenty Crafts!

 Starts: Friday, February 14^th 12:00 AM (central time)

Ends: Friday, February 21^st 6:00 PM (central time)

Here is what I created for this week's challenge:

I was looking to create something different for Valentine's Day. And I thought this would be a cute card to give something with a dinner or wine tasting certificate  inside. FYI...just did a wine and chocolate tasting with some girlfriends - awesome combination! But as we know, everything goes well with chocolate...lol!

I used the Background Builders stamp set from 3 Twenty Crafts to create the purple embossed border on the bottom. And I used the wine and glasses from the 3 Twenty Crafts Happy Harvest stamp set.

I then used my Stampin' Up ink pads and a sponge to create a multi-color background. I also used their Outlined Occasions stamps for the saying. I used my heart punches from Creative Memories, layered the larger one and used pop dots to give the card a little more dimension. (my sideways pictures didn't show the dimension well...). And of course a little stickles in the wine glasses for the wine. 

I wanted to add a little something to the inside. So I used a Friskars edge punch to create a side border.

Make sure to stop by my DT sister's blogs to check out what they made for this challenge!

  Well my friends, it is YOUR turn to show us what

 you can do for this challenge!

Just link up using our link up tool at the bottom of this post for your chance to win top 3 and get entered into our monthly prize drawing.

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Have fun!

2. Be sure to include a link back to our challenge

3. Up to three (3) entries per person and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. All entries must be NEW and created for the current challenge.

5. You may combine with other challenges as long as you link back to us in your post.

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements will not be eligible for top 3 or random/monthly wins.

The monthly prize drawings will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until February 21^st at 6:00 PM (central) time to link up.

All winners will be announced on Monday, February 24^th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!

Welcome to My Home

Happy Wednesday everyone :)  I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Here's a layout I did with the Close to My Heart Chantilly paper pack. I have to thank my Secret Santa in a scrapbook group I belong to - Chantilly and the coordinating embellishments was an awesome Christmas gift to receive!

The layout is the first two pages out of a four page layout I did for the open house my mom and I had after moving into our new home. It took about six months to have the open house - but we had a lot of fun once it finally happened. I made my rosette using Scrap Happy Glue from The Rubber Cafe. The creation of the flower is for another post...but if you ever have the chance to join in on one of Melissa's (The Rubber Cafe owner) classes at an Expo near you grab it! She does great technique classes. The bling and embellishments are all the Chantilly embellishments. I used the leaf stamp from the Close to My Heart Chantilly Work Shop to Go stamp set.  

I made the first page last using the left over paper from the second page. I cut a circle out of the card stock under the Chantilly paper so I would have coordinating colors on both pages. The embellishments on the first page are also the Chantilly embellishments. The Wonderful Beautiful Day stamp is from the Buzz and Bumble Work Shop to Go. (Both Work Shop to Go kits are discontinued but they have some really cute ones for this season. The kits come with everything you need plus ideas.)

My inspiration for the second page for this layout was the Close to My Heart layout:

I know my page is a lot different, but I was at a crop and was determined to stick to my Scrap My Stash! I also wanted to highlight a larger picture in my layout. And I save the cute circle embellishment for my next page!

Happy crafting and stay blessed!

Joyce 

Funday Friday Challenge #36 - Join the Fun!

 Welcome to another Funday Friday Challenge. This week's Challenge is:

"Anything Goes"

Create a card, layout or project from a sketch!

 Our sponsor this week is:

The Paper Nest

One lucky winner will receive a great prize!!

 So make sure to play along this week~you don’t want to miss a chance for this prize!

 Starts: Friday, February 7^th 12:00 AM (central time)

Ends: Friday, February 14^th 6:00 PM (central time)

Here is what I created for this week's challenge:

I used this adorable stamp from Paper Nest Dolls - By Window Ellie. Isn't she the cutest? I colored everything with my Stampin' Up Water Color Pencils. It's hard to see in the photo, but I used darker strokes of a similar color in her hair and the window curtains to give it accent. 
I wanted to create more of a border for the window so I used a stamp from the Background Builders 3 Twenty Crafts set. And then for a little fun I added a stamp from the Close to My Heart Buzz & Bumble stamp set. And I am still scrappin' my stash - I used Stampin' Up paper that I had on my shelf. 

Make sure to stop by my Design Team sister's blogs to check out what they made for this challenge.

  Well my friends, it is YOUR turn to show us what

 You can do for this challenge!

Just link up using our link up tool at the bottom of this post for your chance to win top 3 and get entered into our monthly prize drawing.

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Have fun! 
2. Be sure to include a link back to our challenge

3. Three (3) entries per person and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. All entries must be NEW and created for the current challenge.

5. You may combine with other challenges as long as you link back to us in your post.

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements will not be eligible for top 3 or random/monthly wins.

The monthly prize drawings will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until February 14^th by 6:00 PM (central) time to link up.

All winners will be announced on Monday, February 17^th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!

Crafty Girl!

Yup...this describes me perfectly...ROFL!

More Birthday Celebrations!

It wasn't my intent to start a theme of birthday celebrations...but I guess three layouts in a row makes it a theme! My friend's husband threw a simple but Oh So Fun! birthday party for her. I used the Close to My Heart Bella paper pack. I know that Bella is discontinued but I think their current Huntington paper pack would make this layout beautifully. And yes, I have a lot of CTMH in my stash.

The card stock and patterned paper all came together in the same paper pack. It's double sided so it was easy to pick colors to make the side banners. I used the Creative Memories border system to create the edges. I cut the borders in both a brown color and an off white color from the pack and then just layered them. (This would have also been a great way to use up my scraps.) I mounted the photos in patterned paper from the pack that I wasn't sure I would use. Although that sounds like a challenge for the future - use paper you normally wouldn't use...

The embellishments were laying around my craft room for years...they have made two moves so I figured it was time to use them up. I just added a piece of scrap ribbon to the end of each embellishment to dress it up a bit.

And the most important thing - journaling! It doesn't have to be fancy or lengthy. It only has to share a message. I keep mine simple but I get it done when I do my pages now. I no longer put any pages in my scrapbook until they are journaled. A wonderful friend who introduced me to scrapbooking used to tease me when I said I completed a layout - she always asked if it was journaled...'cause I always put it off. But I've found the sooner I do it once I have created my layout, the better I can share my enthusiasm for what I am sharing in my album.

Happy crafting and be blessed!
Joyce

Tasty and Economical

I love homemade food! I enjoy going out and love the time spent with good friends...but I was brought up on good ole' home cooked meals and still enjoy that the most. I want to share a site I've been using for a while. I've found some tasty recipes and some great grocery store deals too. Yes, even I have learned to plan my shopping trips and have found that I am saving money by doing so. And I'm definitely not depriving myself of anything.

Deals to Meals at http://dealstomeals.blogspot.com/

I know this idea is a little late for the big game today (which I am watching at I type). But I just know that the warm weather can't be too far off (I am really over all the white stuff we've been getting in the Northeast...) and that means picnics and more family get togethers for everyone. They have an awesome sandwich ring that is simple to make and looks oh-so impressive.

Looks delicious doesn't it! And the best part is you can make each section of the sandwich ring a "different sandwich" so you can have "one" sandwich that will please everyone. I like roast beef and cheese on one quarter, ham and cheese on another, chicken salad with cran-raisins on another and an Italian sub on the fourth section - something for everyone!

I've made a number of easy and tasty recipes from the site...eggs, pancakes, french toast, specialty butters, various dinners...and I will make them all again, I have enjoyed them all. Now when I made the "Mile High Biscuits" they only made it to about a quarter-mile...but they still tasted really good so I will be attempting those again too. I would love for you to check out some of their recipes at Deals to Meals and let me know which ones you enjoy.

Enjoy!
Joyce