We Need A Little Christmas

Or at least that's what the Phindy's Place DT are saying over on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog for this week. If you hang out over on the Phindy's Place Papercraft Planet site, you'd know we're a Phamily over there and are very close. As a result Phindy has created a series of images of Phindyville, our imaginary town.

This image is of the Post Office and is called Phindyville Winter, and the perfect image for a Christmas card. Please check out all the fabulous scenes at the Phindy's Place Store for all of her delightful scene perfect for a Christmas card. I've colored Phindyville with a combinations of Copics and Prisma Pencils.

The  papers are from a digital pack called Christmas Mega Pack 2 by Shery K Designs. I used some white Flower Soft for the snow.

This card is far more traditional than the next one I have planned. Come back tomorrow and see.

Stripes Again

I never fail of tiring of participating in the Phindy's Place Challenges on the Challenge blog. I especially like the fact that if you use a Phindy Image in your creation, you get two entries in the challenge, and that you can enter more than one creation. I always have at least two ideas for card creations for most challenges and sometimes, I find myself having a hard time limiting myself to 3 choices. Phindy's images are just so REAL to me. Just go out and check the Phindy's Place Store and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

When I was picking papers for my first challenge card, I came across this digital paper from a kit called Ho-Ho-Ho designed for Pickleberry Pop by CRK. When I saw the musical note paper, I KNEW exactly which image I was going to use. She's called "Sweet Carol", and she brings back such sweet memories of my childhood as well as my children's. Can't you remember the Children's Christmas program from church where you were dressed in a white choir robe with the gold trim, the wings and the gold halo that refused to sit straight on your head(just making the performance that much more adorable). There's little coloring to her, but what there is is done with Copics. I added gold glitter for her robe and halo and then clear glitter for her wings.

The sentiment was created in Make the Cut and exported as a  JPG file. I LOVE this program, that was primarily designed to be used with die cutting machines, but Andy has made it so much more versatile than that. The best thing is that it allows me to open tons of fonts without putting them into my Windows Fonts folder and slowing down my machine. Sometimes it's just so much faster for me than Photoshop.

Show Us Something Good To Eat

Now what kind of cruel challenge is this? It's the one set by Miz Sassy Jackie on the Sassy Cheryls Challenge Blog. I didn't become a Weight Watcher member because I couldn't find much that was good to eat. Obviously Cheryl likes food too, because there are many images in the Sassy Cheryl's Store, that have good things to eat in the image.

When I went searching through my Sassy Cheryls folder of images, I found this cutie holding a Candy Cane. Hello, I really like sweets, so Christmas Candy Cane Girl was just the ticket. I have to stay away from cakes and cookies, even if they are on paper.LOL She's colored with Copics and in colors to coordinate with these digital papers from a free kit from Summer Driggs called Old Fashioned Christmas.

I used my Make the Cut software to create the sentiment, and isn't Christmas definitely the Sweet Season? Feel free to grab it. The flowers are a combination of the Daisy Flowers Spellbinders die, the Cuttlebug Asterick flower and some buttons, I recently bought.

Stripes Somewhere Please

This week over on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, the theme is Stripes Somewhere. Needless to say that doesn't present much of a challenge for someone that's as addicted to papers both real and digital as me. As always my challenge is in picking the image that I want to use and then finding the perfect papers to go with it.

If you read my blog, you know I have a grandson that I call MonkeyMoo. He LOVES Halloween. He loves dressing up and is constantly "in costume". The other night when we SKYPED with him he was a black ghost with glowing red eyes. He totally impressed his Great Aunt Boo, on his last visit because he could read her name. We didn't tell her about his thing for Halloween. We just let her think he's very smart(which he is).LOL

This card uses the Phindy's Place image called appropriately enough BOO. I think it will be perfect for his Halloween card this year, don't you? I've colored it with my Copics. Please go check out the Phindy's Place Store for some more delightful images.

The papers are from a freebie that I found at Sherry K Designs. Notice that even the bat paper has a background of stripes. I added some felt Halloween embellishments that I had left over from making Halloween cards for OWH last year.

It's ALL about the BOO!

Falling for Fall

The theme for this week's challenge on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall. Quite honestly I'm ready for fall and in the past weeks, we've actual had a few decent days with fall like temperatures.

I think the squirrels at my house are thinking that it may be a cold winter. because they've already stripped our pecan trees and long before the nuts are ready to fall from the trees. When I head out to TM, you can hear them in the trees jumping from limb to limb. My squirrels were the reason I chose this image called Nuts for You,  but it's certainly not the only image in the Tiddly Inks Store that are appropriate for a fall themed card.

My image is colored with Copics. The papers as well as the sentiment are all from a free digital kit from Summer Driggs called Falling for Fall.

Well, again I've waited to almost the last minute to enter the challenge, but I did make it.

Bag It, Wrap It, Box It or maybe a Combination

Sassy Judy is in charge of the theme for this week's Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog. The theme is decorate a candy wrapper, a box or a bag. I opted to create a treat box/bag using my Make The Cut software and my Cricut. I found a template for a purse and then started changing things up and then along with a pumpkin clip art that was free, I created a pumpkin treat box/bag(when you say treat in September, my mind immediately jumps to Halloween). I love building things, so being able to design and construct a paper project isn't so much a challenge as just plain fun.

For the image side, I chose this Sassy Cheryl image called Funky Scarecrow. There are some really great Halloween Images over at the Sassy Cheryls Store. You really need to check them out. I've colored the image with Copics. I cut out the Boo sentiment again using my Cricut, and the bats were a free SVG file that I can't find the blog link for. They came in multiple sizes, so it was an easy cut. On the back side of the pumpkin, I just gave him a Jack O' Lantern face.

I filled the box with crinkled khaki papers(someone gave me something that was packed with this and I saved it), and filled it with Tootsie Roll Pops and caramels(the only candies in my house). My final touch was the pipe cleaner cork screws that I love.

Another fun challenge. Can't wait to see what the next challenge is going to be. Bring it on!

SMT #41

Well, thought I'd post a fun SMT this week. I'm an avid walker, but a 4 week hiatus of resting my foot and hoping to make the plantar's fasciitis issue better(NOT), has me looking for alternative forms of exercise.  My walking buddy suggested that we might try bike riding.

 I refuse to buy a new bike when I don't know how long I'll stick with it. In our barn is one if not both of the bikes our children had as children. Keep in mind my oldest is 42 and my youngest is 40, so the bikes are about 30 years old. About 3 years ago, we put new tires and a padded seat on one of them so I could ride some(I didn't stick with it long-reason below). Well the other day, DH aired up the tires, and so far so good with them holding air. The bike HAS been in the barn, but remember I live in a very humid place so some oxidation(rusting) has occurred.

Reason for not sticking with it - I grew up in the Mississippi Delta where the terrain is totally flat(think Holland), so hopping on a bike and riding for hours even when you're out of shape isn't difficult. However even though we don't   have  a real hill here in Lowndes County, we do have inclines, so I'm having to build up gradually. I mean who knew that my driveway that I thought was flat actually has about a 2 degree slope to it(my thigh muscles that's who). The bike has NO gears just me, so I decided before I start riding with my walking buddy(she has 7 gears on her bike and she's 6 years younger than me), I better start getting the old legs in shape. I've been taking short rides(no more than a mile) several times a day. Today, I rode a mile away from the house and then had to ride the mile back. There was one incline(maybe 6 degrees) that had my muscles screaming. I thought I was going to have to get off and walk the bike, but I persevered(read that I could walk faster than I was pedalling). I made it home, so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I'll do another run after lunch and then I'm calling it quits on exercise for the day.

This is a picture of me on the bike, but not after the 2 mile run(I wasn't grinning but grimacing then). I just went up the drive a little ways and back so DH could take the picture before he got on with his day. You will notice that I am wearing a helmet and have on a reflective vest. I'm old enough to know I'm not invincible.

Tootsie if you see these pictures, I know you're horrified. Too bad you don't live closer, because, I'd let you repaint it(see I haven't forgotten the pink tricycle).

So come on everyone, post a picture of either your craft space or what you have going on and enter it on Sassy Cheryls Blog in the Show Me Thursday Challenge. You not only get to nosey around in other people's lives(and admit it you know you love to do that), but you also have a chance of winning a Sassy Cheryl image. There's no way to lose.