Scraps for a Phindy's Place Challenge

Here it is the end of the year and the DT over at Phindy's Place Challenge Blog must be like the rest of us and have lots of scraps they're wanting to use and not just toss. The sad part about this challenge for me, is that with so much going on here with DD and her family visiting and getting ready for my Open House, I only had time for one challenge and am barely getting it blogged in time.

This sweet image from the Winter Cuties collection from the Phindy's Place Store is called Hot Cocoa. I've colored her with Copics.

This paper layout  has the effect of bargello that you see in needlepoint where the patterns repeat, but with a dropped down effect. The paper is all from my scrap box.  I didn't have time to create a sentiment or find one, so this card can go however it's needed.

SMT #55 at Sassy Cheryls

Here it is Tuesday night, and I'm about to miss out on one of my favorite challenges, Show Me Thursday on Sassy Cheryls Blog. Just for posting what you have going on in your life each week and entering it in the Sassy Cheryl's blog, you might win a free Sassy Cheryls image. Just so you know there's another good side to this. You get a chance to nosey around in other people's spaces and therefore, get to know some really talented people and not just in crafting.

This week's SMT for me is all about getting ready for the Swoope Christmas Open House. This is the 27th year my DH and I have hosted his family for Christmas night. It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun. I had my Christmas tree decorated two weeks ago, but the rest of the decorations have been sitting in boxes waiting for my BFF to come over and do her thing. In past years, her DD would do it for me, but she's moved out of town. Well it was worth the wait and in the meantime, I finally started doing some cooking for the party. So here are pictures of what I've been doing all week.

The top picture is fruitcake cookies. These are my DH's favorite cookie and the only cookie that doesn't scream my name. Too bad I can't fix only fruitcake cookies, then I wouldn't have to worry about overeating the wrong thing. The second picture is fudge I made with JDK or Judy's recipe. This one not only screamed my name but jumps up and down and waves at me. First thing this morning after cutting it and getting it in the can, I took it, along with one can of fruitcake cookies(recipe makes like 10 dozen), biscotti and pecan brittle down to the camphouse. At least 3 miles from home, they're not screaming quite as loudly and I can't see them jumping up and down and waving.

I'm a fairly decent cook and I can craft most anything, but decorating is not my forte, so this afternoon, my BFF came over to decorate for me. She didn't make it until about 4:45, but by 6 she was through and my house looks great. One of the things that I wanted her to do was to use antlers from deer my DH has killed through the years(man doesn't get rid of any of them and he's been hunting a LONNNNNNGGGGG time) These are the antlers before and after the transformation.

This picture is of the counted cross-stitched Christmas pieces framed and hung over the sofa. The coffee table has my Fontanini natitivy set. This is the one thing MM has been waiting for me to get set up. If you're looking for the perfect gift that you can continue through the years for a child, may I suggest the 5" Fontanini nativity. The pieces are made in Italy of a resin polymer and hand painted. They don't break and yet they are utterly beautiful. You can add a piece each year.

This is my foyer. The mantle is free standing and not surrounding a fireplace. The mantle was in the parlor in the house where my DH was raised. Before the house fell down, they had a drawing for the mantles and furniture in the house. My SIL actually owns the mantle, but when she moved from Columbus, she took it out of that house, and so far hasn't asked for it back.  The framed angel is cross-stitched and hangs there all the time.

This is a picture of my dining room table and the washstand that are in there. I'll give you a better picture of the table next week, when I post pictures from the Open House with all the food in place.

In the kitchen she worked up this decoration over my kitchen sink. The ornaments are counted cross-stitch that I made many, many years ago. I still have to do the breakfast room table, but that will wait until the day of the party, since we're still eating in there. I'm glad it was dark so you can't see the cobwebs on the outside of the windows.


Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and here's your invite.

WOW at Sassy Cheryls

The challenge set by Sassy Judy over on the Sassy Cheryls Challenge Blog was to create a White on White creation. Is there anything more elegant or classically beautifully than white on white? I love it in children's clothing, so how much more fun to create it in a card.

This adorable image from the Sassy Cheryls Digi Store is called Bowlegged Cutie Stamp. She's colored with Copics, and that's all the color you get, so I made sure that she was colorful.

The wonderful thing about white on white is that by using a punch or two, a diecut, embossing folders, Pearl Shimmer Mist, a few pearls and a couple of buttons, along with a delightful and you have a card anyone would be happy to receive. I hate that the pearlescence of the Shimmer Mist doesn't show up in the pictures.

Now that I have this challenge done, I can start thinking about some baking and decorating. Someone reminded me that a week from tomorrow is Sunday, and I'm hosting an Open House. Time to change gears.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday.

CAS Card 2 at Phindy's Place

I've just enough time to post my second CAS card for the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog.

Again I've gone with a Phindy's Place cutie called Cheery Chat. Please checkout all the cuties at the Phindy's Place Store. The papers are again from my scrap stash and the sketch is from Clean and Simple Stamping Blog.

And here I thought I was going to miss out on this week's challenge.

CAS Cards at Phindy's Place

The challenge this week at Phindy's Place Challenge Blog is to create a CAS card. You can use any image you want, but you get a double entry if you use a Phindy's Image. I love to improve my chances any way I can. This week with my daughter and her family arriving for the holidays, and having to do some babysitting and having a test run, I really didn't  think I was even going to be able to do a CAS card. Thanks to my DH though, instead of going to sleep when I got home from the test, I was wide awake and slipped out to TM this afternoon for some card making.

The image used in this first card is called Flower Frock and is one of the Phindy's Place cuties from her STORE. I've colored her with copics. I actually found the sketch on the Clean and Simple Stamping Blog and the papers are from my stash. Off to get this one entered so I can get my second card blogged.

I want to thank the DT for making this a CAS challenge or I wouldn't have made it.

Show Me Thursday #54

You have to love an artist that is  willing to offer up a free image without having to create a project of any kind. All you have to do is post what you're doing in your life this week. That's exactly the awesomeness of Sassy Cheryl over on her Sassy Cheryl Blog. A chance for a free image just for letting us nosey around in your space.

This week definitely isn't going to be showing my workspace. My younger daughter, her husband and MM arrived yesterday after a 2 1/2 day road trip from Phoenix. They were here when I got home from my WW meeting and MM needed to get outside and burn off some cooped up energy. We started with a hike back to the new WOT-wildlife observation tower(or deer stand) that DH built and erected back behind the pool behind our house. This is a picture of MM and Grandpa on the walk back. What is it about little boys and sticks?

From the WOT we walked through the woods to our neighbor's to check out the WOT that he built for his grandchildren who visited over Thanksgiving. They have two pups and this picture is of MM petting them. This is huge, since my BIL's dogs totally traumatized him about 2 years ago. This was huge.

For at least the last 15 years, a family down the road from us has been caroling us each year at Christmas. It has become the highlight of Christmas to me. Besides the parents, there are 7 children. The oldest is grown and in pilot training with the Air National Guard. That didn't stop him from being here to participate. Last year there a couple that were sick, but this year all 9 were outside our front door to sing "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Joy to the World". As if that isn't enough, they always give us a plate of cookies. I should have videoed, but I did take a picture.

So snap a shot of what's happening in your life this week and post it HERE. Hey, I won last week, so that means you could win this week, plus I highly recommend that you pop around to each entry's blog. It's always inspiring.

A Second Entry for December's Anything Goes at Phindy's Place

Much to my surprise and probably yours too, I'm back with a second entry for the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog's Anything Goes with a Phindy's Place image. I really didn't have time to make another card, but then Cec challenged us to create a card with this newest of images from the Phindy's Place Store called Bird Tree. How could I not take up the challenge(especially after seeing the image and seeing a tree made using the branch punch on a card).  The two just went together. The image is colored with Copics.

The tree was cut out with the Sissix Christmas tree die and then covered with branches using different shades of green using my Martha Stewart Fir Branch punch and my Martha Stewart bird punch.

The papers are from two different digital designers. The tree paper is from Lily Bimbles Woodland Kit from My Grafico and the plaid paper is from Shery K Designs Christmas 6 pack. Need to get this posted on the blog before time runs out. I'm loving the way this card turned out.

First Week Anything Goes With Phindy's Place

This is the first week of the month and on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, that means one thing - ANYTHING GOES as long as you use a PHINDY'S PLACE image. It's definitely my favorite challenge week of the month. The sad part to this is that I think this week, I'm only going to be able to get one card made for the challenge.

I jumped on this image when it first appeared on the Papercraft Planet site. She's called Favorite Cuddle, and I couldn't wait until Easter to make a card with her. In fact, I've had her colored for over a week, just haven't had time to get her into a card form. This afternoon, I prioritized and got this card made before returning back to the chore of decorating my house for Christmas. Be sure to check out all the adorable images over at the Phindy's Place Store.

The papers are all from my stash box, so I have no idea from whence that came. I saw a card somewhere with the best carrot sentiment, but I didn't write it down and I can't remember or find it. Therefore no sentiment as of yet. Perhaps I'll come across it soon .

In the meantime, I think if I don't do the decorating, it just isn't going to happen. At least I have the tree up.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The challenge this week on Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog is to create a winter themed project. Well today instead of decorating for Christmas(I did at least get all the decorations moved from TM to the garage), I had to go out to TM and do a little crafting. I worked on my Open House invitation first and I think it would qualify for a Winter Theme project since it is after all an invitation to a Christmas Open House and I did use a Sassy Cheryl pre-colored image called Better Not Pout.

However, it's not what I'm entering in the challenge. Instead I'm using this image from the Sassy Cheryl's Store called Cup of Cocoa. See, I tend to agree with her. Instead of being out in the cold, it's better to enjoy a hot cup of cocoa inside. I've paper pieced the chair, pillow and throw, and colored my little friend with Copics. Every little girl should have at least one red velveteen Christmas dress with matching shoes. I have to say it wasn't cold when I was working on this. In fact with the lighting in TM, it was more like a sauna.

The background papers are from a digital kit Christmas 6 from Shery K Designs. If you haven't checked out her papers, you really should. Her prices are very reasonable, and she has sales on a regular basis, along with lots of freebies in SVGs and clip art.

Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, so maybe now that I have the den vacuumed(and my challenge card finished), I will at least get the Christmas tree up and decorated. I need Cathy's magic elf. If you know of one, please send him my way. I'm really missing my BFF's daughter who used to come do my decorating, but alas she's moved 2.5 hours way.

Anything Goes Wrap Up at Tiddly Inks

The month of November was Anything Goes on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. Yes I know it's December, but the last challenge was a two week one. I was a bit busy last week and didn't get a card made. Am I ever glad that I waited. Yesterday Christy released new images inspired by her niece, the real Lily Claire, in a bear coat called Little Somethings. The new images are wonderful so be sure to check them out at the Tiddly Inks Store especially since there's a sale on right now.

As you may know I have a grandson that I affectionately call MonkeyMoo, so needless to say the image "Little Monkey" really spoke to me. I've colored him with Copics. Since I plan on scrapping for MonkeyMoo, I've been collecting monkey papers. Since I couldn't pick A paper, I opted for two cards.

The papers are all from Reminisce. The papers from the first card are from a paper pack called Simply Fun, and the other papers were individual sheets. I used my MTC software to create the cut file for the bananas and cut them out with my Black Cat Cougar. The sentiment was added to the image using Photoshop..

I can't wait to create cards with the other new images.

SMT #54

Well here it is Thursday again and time for a nosey in everyone's workspace or life.Why you ask? Because Sassy Cheryl has a blog, and she's a nosey parker just like me. For showing what's going on in your life, you can be entered for a chance for a free Sassy Cheryl image. Now why wouldn't you want to participate?

I can't believe it's the 1st of December. This year has gone by way too fast. Do you remember thinking as a child that life was at a stand still, and 24 days to Christmas sounded like forever? Well let me tell you, the older you get the faster it goes, and 24 days is the blink of an eye. I'm scared to make a list of all I've got to get done between now and then too.

I try not to make plans that are too firmly set in stone, because they have a tendency to change. My BFF who will and has come to my aid more times than I can mention, called me on Sunday to ask what I was doing this week. I said not too much, which opened the door for a project(she's famous for projects, just ask her DH). She is a phenomenal hostess and loves giving parties. December is like one non-stop event for her. She has a both a house and a 2 bedroom guest house that she uses for hostessing her parties.  She decorates both for Christmas, and there will be at least one party a week out there(if not more) from now up until Christmas. It used to be everything was done with crystal, silver and china when she had them at the house. Since the coming of The Honey House(name of the guest house because it's where they used to store the sugar for the apiary they ran), it's a little more casual but still fully decorated.

So you're sitting there asking yourself, what does that have to do with the price of eggs in China and specifically SMT.  Well here's what. She decorates the Honey House with Snowmen. Last year I made her a Merry Christmas for her table that was done in blues and Snowflakes. This year she wanted tablecloths for the card tables with a blue background and white snowflakes. She called on Sunday remember, and she didn't have the fabric and neither did I and neither did our Walmart. Thankfully my neighbor and I had planned an outing for lunch on Monday, and instead of going to Starkville, we adjusted location to Tupelo where we had access to Hancock's, JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby to look for the fabric. Fortunately after no success at Hancock's, little success at JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby had the PERFECT fabric and almost a whole bolt. Needless to say, I bought every bit of it. So here are the pictures of how my day was spent yesterday. I made 8 card table cloths and two bigger cloths with a white border. I started after lunch yesterday and finished about 10 last night.

starting the process of cutting out the cloths for the card tables

Card table all set up and ready for food

The two wooden tables had to have a white border added to them, but this is the setup for 3 of the tables.

This is the main table. You can see the Merry Christmas I did last year, that I think inspired the need for the tablecloths. The table is made from a bowling alley lane and trimmed in walnut. Her DH built it along with being totally responsible for turning a concrete block building into this phenomenal guest facility for family and friends.

Let There Be Snow at Phindy's Place

This week on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, we're supposed to do a sprinkling of snow. Well here in Mississippi, it's been quite damp and chilly the last two days, so snow isn't that far fetched an idea. There are only a few places I want to see snow, Colorado in February and on a card are two of them.

For what I hope is just my first challenge card, I had to use this Winter Cutie from the Phindy's Place store called Snowball Stash. This is one of the newest of the Winter Cuties and each and every one of them is a delight. I've colored him with Copics.

The paper was printed from a digital kit called Winter from Shery K Designs. The sentiment is a freebie from Little Footprints.

Hopefully I'll have time for another entry before Thursday afternoon, but I have some tablecloths to make first, and guess what? The fabric is blue with snowflakes. Now could I enter them in the challenge since after all it is about snow?

Anything Goes Again at Sassy Cheryl's

The DT at Sassy Cheryl's had so much fun and such great response to the Anything Goes Challenge last week that they repeated the challenge again this week on the Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog. Thank you very much ladies.

I seem to be in a Christmas frame of mind creativity wise. I just hope I can translate it to my house and SOON!  For my challenge card this week I had this adorable image is called Sassy Angel. Images of Sally and her pals, Lucy Lou, Polly and Noah can be found at the Sassy Cheryls Digis or colored images at the Sassy Cheryl's Illustrations. I've colored her with Copics. That hair cut is very reminiscent of one I had at the ripe old age of 5, but you would never have associated the term angelic with me.

The papers are from my scrap box, but I can tell you they're digital papers.

I'm happy to be a whole 24 hours ahead of the posting deadline.

SMT #52

This is the 52 week of Show Me Thursday over on Sassy Cheryl's Blog. For a celebration, this week's winner will win a $10 gift certificate at the Sassy Cheryl's Digi Store. This is about the simplest challenge out there. All you have to do is enter a picture of what you have going on in your life this week.

This has been a very busy week for me, and I didn't have time to take pictures of all I had going on. However, this Thanksgiving with neither of our children home to celebrate, our neighbors invited us over to share Thanksgiving with them and their children. This is a picture of the table I shared with my neighbor's grandchildren on Thursday. My neighbor is standing on the right and the other two adults are her two children along with 6 of their 7 children(5 of whom are under 5). The 7th grandchild is only 3 months old and was being fed in the back of the house. That's  my plate you see at the end of the table.

On Friday I went over to play photographer for my neighbors. We did shots of the entire family, individual families, all the grandchildren, just the boys and then we remembered we needed a shot of just the granddaughters(not good to save those to last). This is perhaps my favorite shot of the day. The two on the outside are, believe it or not, twins and are two. The one in the center is their cousin whose 3. The expression of Audrey's(one on the right) is priceless.

A Second Christmas Card for Phindy's Place

I did get a second card done for the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, but only because I already had the card base made.

This image is another of the Winter Cuties from the Phindy's Place Store and is appropriately called Tasty Flakes. Even at almost 61(this Sunday), I love to catch snowflakes on my tongue. It's the kid in me, and I hope I never lose it. I've colored her with Copics. I actually owned at one time a down coat this exact color. I guess there's a lot of the kid still  in me.

The papers on the background of the card are digital from a kit called Advent by Katie Fairlie from Pickleberry Pop. The sentiment is from the $1 stamp bin at JoAnn's.

I'm so glad that I was able to get two cards in the challenge. What I can't figure out is why everyone isn't using a Phindy's image. The images are the best, and you get two entries when you use a Phindy's image. For me, that's a WIN WIN if I ever heard one.

Christmas Cards At Phindy's Place

This week it's a Christmas Card challenge on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog. That's a safe and sure challenge for all of us, because you can always use a Christmas card or seventy or so.

For my image, I've used this adorable Winter Cutie called Shy Boy from the Phindy's Place Store. You really need to check out the Phindy Place Store because she's recently added some fabulous new images that will be perfect for Christmas or birthdays. I have actually had this image colored all week, but just haven't had time to get it into a card. Thank goodness I didn't have to make Thanksgiving dinner, because it gave me a few minutes today for some creativity.

I actually had an image colored and a card base put together. There was just one small problem. They didn't work together. On Tuesday, I went to Tupelo to spend the day with my sister hitting the craft stores and stocking up on embellishments and sale goodies. The papers I used for this card were from the DCWV Christmas Matstack that I found for 40% off at JoAnn's. Aren't they perfect with this image?

The sketch is from this week's Card Patterns challenge. Now let's see if I can convince myself to go color an image for a second entry for the challenge.

Show Me Thursday #51

I am obviously playing the last minute nosey around Show Me Thursday Challenge over at Sassy Cheryl's Blog. You know the one, where you post a picture or few of what you've got going on for the chance of winning a free image from the Sassy Cheryls Store.

I can honestly say that the reason I haven't posted isn't because I don't have anything going on, but the exact opposite. Trying to fit crafting time around all the activities of this week has proved almost impossible. I do however have some pictures to share with you. When we first built TazMania, we put a single track of track lighting over the desk and over my sewing area. It left some dark areas to me, so Sunday morning DH and I proceeded to add an additional track to each of them. It was not a fun experience, and I really wish I could have done it myself, but I needed an extra hand. Thankfully it's done and I'm loving all the extra light over my Black Cat Cougar on my tall table, as will my neighbor since I've also lit up her tables along the wall. Here are the pictures of the extra lighting.

Monday was a  full day of Weight Watchers with first having to lead a meeting and then having to attend a certification class. My DH says I had to get certified to work for free, and he's not far off. However, I'm  doing it to keep me on track rather than the money, and it at least pays my gas to go to a meeting.  I also think you have to practice what you preach.

My sister who lives 60 miles north of me is on vacation this week, and she likes crafting as much as me. So yesterday, I drove to Tupelo and spent the day with her, her daughter and her grandson. We hit Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, Sam's and Walmart. We also ate a Newks, just so I could have 1/2 of a toasted Pimento and Cheese sandwich(it was worth every single WW point).  Since most of what I bought was from the Christmas decorations for small trees for embellies, and they were 50% off, I didn't get to REALLY make use of my 40% off coupons. Here's a picture of my stash from yesterday's shopping adventure(please be sure to notice the paper mess immediately to the right of my stash).

Now I'm got to get in cooking mode and start doing some prep work for the one dish I have to take to my neighbor's for T'giving and for the dishes I have to prepare for a Family Dinner for DH's family on Friday night.

May you all have a blessed day tomorrow whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving or not. I am so thankful each and every day for the friends I've made in the crafting world and want each of you to know you hold a special place in my heart.

Anything Goes in November for Tiddly Inks

I love that the whole month on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is Anything Goes. It has certainly made my life easier, especially for getting a card made for the challenge.

I had to use this free image from Tiddly Inks last week called Ice Bear. Once I saw him, I knew I had to use him in a card soon. What better than this week's Tiddly Inks Challenge. Be sure to check out all the wonderful images at the Tiddly Inks Store especially the Christmas images HERE. I've colored my bear with my Copics, and I didn't want him to look like the Coca Cola bear.

I wish I could tell the creators of the paper, but all I can tell you is that they came from my scrapbox. I let the paper be the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all comments.

Anything Goes When the Game is Stump the Boss

The Sassy Cheryls Challenge Blog is playing Stump the Boss this week with Sassy Cheryl. How you say, well this week Cheryl has to put a DT name to the cards created by the group. We'll know on Tuesday how she did, but since I know these girls to be as sneaky as Cheryl herself, I'm betting on the DT stumping her(I love you Cheryl, but I remember last year). At any rate since they're trying to stump her, the challenge this week for a free SC image in a random drawing is ANYTHING GOES!!!! That works for me!

For my card, I've chosen this image from the Sassy Cheryl's Digi Store called Going To See the Star. I imagine this Little Girl has heard the story of the Christ Child and the Star that led the Wisemen and is on a journey of her own. She's colored with Copics. I have always loved this image and though Cheryl has a ton of new images(some of which I own), I had to use this one.

The papers are from a digital kit from Pickleberry Pop by Designs from CRK. The Sketch I used is this week's Clean and Simple Sketch. Finally the sentiment, I simply typed in Word and printed it out.

Thank You for Being My Friend

It's my second and last entry in the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog's challenge to create a Thank You card or project. I wish I was going to have time for another entry, but it's been a week of doctor's appointments(just check ups) for my DH, and it's cut into my crafting time.

For my second entry, I'm again going with a Summer Cutie from the Phindy's Place Store. This image is called Spring Bouquet. She's colored with Copics and isn't she just the sweetest?

These digital papers are also from Raspberry Road Designs from a kit called Color Your World. This sentiment is actually a rubber stamp that I picked up in the dollar bins at WalMart just for this challenge. I used my MTC software to recreate the flowers in the background paper and then glass beads for the flower centers.

Showing Thanks at Phindy's Place

This week's challenge on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog is to create a Thank You card or project. We can always use a Thank You card, especially at this time of the year.

For my first card I've used this adorable Phindy's Place image called Summer Blossom, and she's one of Phindy's Summer Cuties. You really need to check out the Phindy's Place store, because she's recently added some wonderful new images including the cutest little boy with a snowball and a Shopping Collaboration with Paulette of Create with TLC. My image is colored with my Copics.

The papers are digital that I printed. They're from the Garden Path Collection at Raspberry Road Designs. The sentiment is from an acrylic set  by Inkadinkadoo.

Show Me Thursday #50

Can you believe it's almost been a year since Sassy Cheryl started the Show Me Challenge over on her Sassy Cheryls Blog? All you have to do is post a pic or as many as you want sowing what you have going on in your life, and you're entered in a random drawing to win a free Sassy Cheryl image. Now if you don't know, Sassy Cheryl has been on a roll creating tons of new images, so winning a free one would be a very good thing.

All of a sudden we have folks cooking and my mouth has been watering looking at all the foods that are being prepared. Over the weekend, my niece and great nephew came down with her DH for the night. While her DH was hunting, she and Coleman came down to see me. He's 14 months old and could walk if he wanted to, but is totally not interested in walking.

Sometime between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, I lost the flash card for my camera. As a result on Sunday afternoon, after cleaning my Copics I cleaned and reorganized my half of the table. If you're not sitting down, you might better. You're not going to believe these two pics. I even want you to know that this afternoon, after making a card I left it looking just like it does in these pics.

This morning I went to town and stopped at Wall's(a closeout store) where I found these ornament boxes for $.99 each. These will be stuffed with a little cash and given to the great nieces and nephews.

Rozanne Paxman, the CEO of Scrap Girls, has a blog called How Mom Did It. It's dedicated to sharing the things she learned from her Mother and her Grandmother. She also shared a tip on how to make your own laundry detergent. This is what I mixed up this afternoon.

Finally, last week I showed you pics of the turning leaves. Well, this is a picture that shows some of the leaves that have fallen in my front yard. The trees still have at least this many still on them. You'll have to wait to see pics of my DH's creative way of raking them, because we don't rake until they all fall off the trees.

Anything Goes at TIddly Inks Round Two

The DT on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog have taken pity on us as we approach the holiday season and designated November as an Anything Goes With A Tiddly Inks Image Challenge Month. This works wonderfully well for me. I'm always needing to add cards to my OWH stash.

The image I have used for this challenge is Did You Hear with Lilli Claire and her little bird Friend. Christy  has recently added some new Christmas Images to the Tiddly Inks Store, so be sure to check them out.

I'd love to give credit where credit is due on the paper, but I have to say I just grabbed pieces out of my scrap box. The flowers were cut with my Cougar using the Make The Cut software. I love them both. The sentiment is from a dollar set I picked up at Michael's.

The good news is that I had straightened up in TM yesterday when looking for my flash card for my camera(didn't find it), and I left it looking the same when I finished this card. Could I be turning over a new leaf. Nawwwwww! I don't think so.

Emboss It At Sassy Cheryls

This week on the Sassy Cheryls Challenge Blog, Sassy Peggy is the hostess. She set a challenge of using embossing in your creation. Also for the remainder of November, all challenge entries will be looked at for the opportunity of some crafter to be chosen as a Guest Designer. Now how wonderful would that be?

For my card I used one of then new Sally images from the Sassy Cheryls store called Sally and Her Bluebird. You'll notice my bluebirds turned into redbirds. I love redbirds and snow. Sally and her friends are colored with Copics.

The background papers are digital papers from a kit called Winter by Shery K Designs. The large snowflake was a free SVG file from SVGCuts, and I cut it on my Black Cat Cougar using my MTC software. I love this machine. The sentiment is actually a Christmas ornament for a miniature Christmas tree that I purchased on sale at Hobby Lobby.  Both the large snowflake and the banner behind the image are embossed with the Cuttlebug embossing folder.

And My Final Entry for the Phindy's Place Anything Goes

This last card may be my favorite of the three I've done for this Phindy's Place Challenge this week.

This is a new image that Phindy has just added to the Phindy Place Store. It's called Winter Candle, and i'ts one of the Two Seven Oh images. When I came upon it in the store, while looking for another image, it just FELL into my cart. It was just in time for this challenge. Isn't this the most wonderful image?

The papers are from Summer Driggs digital kit called Old Fashioned Christmas. They were perfect for the card. I cut the holly leaves out and added the red rhinestones for the berries.

When I first saw this image, this verse from Matthew immediately came to mind. Feel free to grab it for your use.

Another Anything Goes With A Phindy's Image

Well when it's an Anything Goes with a Phindy's Image over on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, I'm going to do my dead level best to get as many entries in as I can.

I had this image picked last Friday along with the papers, just waiting for me to find the time to get my card made. This image is one of Phindy's Winter Cuties called Big Hill. She or He depending on how you color the image can be found HERE at the Phindy's Place Store. She's colored with Copics. I don't see my Grandson being caught outside in those colors.

The papers are digital and from the Christmas Days Kit from Shery K Designs. If you haven't checked her store out, you really should. She has great paper kits as well as SVG files. She's also wonderfully generous with freebies.

The sentiment is very similar to one I created last year, but for this year I decided to use winter as the theme rather than Christmas.

Well, hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to get my third card put together tomorrow. I have my image and sentiment ready to go.