Over The River and......

 .......Through The Woods, To Grandmother's House We Go.........    The idea for this post came from my good friend Buffy, whose post the other day was about her grandmother's house.  But the real inspirational "clincher" came from my granddaughter, Hannah.  Grampa and I went on Friday to pick up my son's 2 kids -- J.T. and Hannah -- to bring them up to our home for a pre-Christmas weekend.  My son had to work on Saturday but joined us for our Christmas celebration as soon as he finished work. 

On Friday, as we drove through the gate to our community Hannah started singing the song "Over the River and Through the Woods To Grandmother's House we go..."  Then she said, "that's really true of your house grama, except I have to change the word to grama, not grandmother, because  you aren't grandmother."  Leave it to her to be precise.   Since I haven't done any crafting for several days because of all the Christmas activities, I thought I would show you the travel to our house..........  (Added:  Please excuse the spacing.  Nothing I did would eliminate all these spaces.  Ugh!)

Over the river............

 

 

 







           And through the woods........

 

To Grandmother's House We Go.....

 And these are the two munchkins.  We had a great holiday celebration.  I hope you all had a great time with your families with lots of fun, good food, great gifts, and many blessings.

Until next time..............

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down the Lines -- Pool Party

I certainly hope once the holidays are over things slow down -- a lot!  I feel every day like I'm running a race.  Whew!  Shopping and wrapping are done, but I am only about 3 weeks late in baking cookies, planning meals, and spending time sitting in front of the tree and listening to music.  I usually try to spend evenings with a fire and some music -- to get in the spirit.    Starting today, though, I hope to slow down.  I'm setting up this post on Tuesday morning before heading 90 miles away to my son's house.  Hubby and I are going to listen to our grandson, who is having his strings recital tonight, so we are going to listen to him play Christmas music.  I know he is just a beginner, but it will be fun to listen.  We won't get home until close to midnight.  I doubt I will feel like doing cards and posts then.

So, having said all that, I bet you are here for our Coloring Down the Lines Blog Hop.  Well, you have come to the right place.  We were challenged to use Pool Party with So Saffron and Not Quite Navy or Pool Party with Chocolate Chip and Wild Wasabi.  I used the first choice.  If you arrived from Liz's blogsite I know you had a treat with what she has done for us.   I like simplicity, and I love her lineup of trees.   Now here is my card.  This is Dapper Dan -- Uh, I mean Dapper Snowman!

I am not terribly happy with it, as I think I could have done better.  What was in my head did not come out on paper.  But, since I didn't get started sooner, and am rushing off to the concert, this is what I need to go with.  One nice thing about this card, Mr. Dapper Snowman is struttin' his stuff with tophat and diamond buttons.  He must be off to a concert tonight too -- only not of the elementary school style.  I bet we have more fun.

So I hope you like Mr. Dapper, now let's head over to Teri's blogsite to see what she did.  I can't wait to see............

Come back to see me again soon.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

For The Little Grands

And this is the card for the other grands, the littler ones.  I love the little raised heads.  It makes these characters so cute.  I know for sure the 4 yr old will ask about the bird on the tail of the deer.  I didn't discover this stamp set -- No Peeking -- until a week or so ago.  I can't imagine how I missed it, unless it is because I was focusing more on Scentsational Seasons and the Holiday catalog.  But this set is adorable.

I am going to need more stamps for little kids.  I no more than finished saying I don't do baby cards or anything in soft pinks and blues with booties or feet, because I don't have teeny grandchildren any more, and none of my friends do either.  Well, it wasn't a day or more later that we found out our 6 grands will be joined next summer by another and we will have 7.  Then my really good girlfriend told me she is going to be a grandma for the first time.  And a special neighbor who lives up here during the summer just told us she is expecting next summer.   Where are all these babies coming from -- well, I know where they come from (duh!), I just want to know how come all of a sudden.  So I am starting to take another look at stamps like Two By Two, and Baby Bundle, and Baby Prints.  We all know how much fun babies are, so we are really looking forward to all these new wee ones.

Here is the inside of the card and also the envelope.  Notice the grainy deer on the envelope?  Well I ran out of Stampin'Up! envelopes and had to go to Staples to get more.  I never noticed before how different our envlopes are.  They have such a nice smooth texture.  The ink sits on the envelope crisp and bright.  Those "other" envelopes are not nearly as nice.  I hope I never run out again.




I hope you like my card today.  Be sure to come back for our blog hop on Wednesday.

Until next time......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Happy Cookies

Wow, another week has flown by.  I'm counting the days until Christmas almost like my grandchildren, only more from the point of how much time I have to get it all done, than from the point of how long until Santa comes.  I still have cookies to bake and packages to wrap.  I think the shopping is done, except for a few stocking stuffers.  How about you?  Finished?  Hope your preparations are getting done.  I hope to finish up this weekend so that next week we can play music, wrap presents, and enjoy the season.

My card today is one that we will be giving to a couple of our grandchildren.  I love these little gingerbread guys.  I think even adults love getting a card with these cookies dancing around.  I still have to design another card for the remaining grands, but I think it, too, will have these cute little cookies on them.

The inside and the envelope have more cookies.  I will probably be using a different sentiment for the grands, but you get the idea.   Just had an idea for the younger grands, maybe I could come up with a card having a plate of gingerbread cookies for Santa.






I hope you enjoyed my card today.  Time to get the recipes out and start all those cookies -- one of my favorites is ginger snaps.  Have a great weekend.  Hope to see you again soon.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down the Lines -- Lucky Limeade

It's blog hop Wednesday with Coloring Down The Lines.  I think we are nearing completion of the total Color Coach.  I'll have to go count how many are left so I will know.  Today's colors are Lucky Limeade with Riding Hood Red and Perfect Plum OR Lucky Limeade with Island Indigo and Delightful Daffodil.  I chose to use the second because I could just see those brilliant colors together, and I knew what I wanted to do.  I think my card today accidentally turned out to be a "guy" card.  How did that happen?  Guy cards are so difficult.   Oh, first,  I know you came to me from Liz's blogsite.  Liz has been missing in action for awhile due to lots of life happenings, but she is back, and did a terrific job, as usual, don't you think?   We certainly have missed her.

Today I got a whole boxful of brand, spanking, new SU product from the spring catalog, and some things from the Sale-a-bration brochure too.  You are going to love all this new stuff.  Once I opened that box I had to try out some of the goodies!

This card was made with the Honeycomb embossing folder.  I hand cut all those little hexagons (probably why my typing isn't so great right now), but do you want to make a bet that SU comes out with a hexagon punch in the near future?  What is your wager -- a free punch?   First I embossed a piece of Whisper White for my base.  After that I embossed a piece of Island Indigo and also a piece of Daffodil Delight with the Fancy Fan embossing folder and then ran it through the Honeycomb folder.  That embossed the hexagons and shaped them.  Then I watched TV for a while so that I could cut them out.  The rest was easy peasy.  I hope you like my easy, but tedious card.

Now, you should hurry on over to Teri's blogsite with me.  I can't wait to see what she has done for us.  I bet it is something really super.

Until next time...............

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Lovely Tree Cutout

I have a couple more Christmas cards and then on to spring.  I'll be getting a whole box of great things this afternoon from the new spring catalog and I can't wait to start using them.   You will love all the Valentines, flowers, springy designer paper and accessories.  There are embossing folders, more bundles, and some really pretty ribbon.  I am very anxious to try my hand at the soft colors of spring.  Oh, but if you like bold colors, there are bold colors too.

Ok, so on to another of my Christmas cards.  This one uses Lovely As A Tree -- should I say it?  Please, SU, don't ever, EVER, retire this set!!!

I also used an embossing folder with a cutout to display the tree.  And there is lots of sparkle, most of which you can't see.

The inside is a beautiful sentiment from More Merry Messages.  I think this set has some of the nicest messages, and if SU retires this set, I know I will continue to use it anyway.  The envelope carries the evergreen theme with the branch from Christmas Lodge. 








 I  hope you like my card today.  I am off to my craft room to do some more crafting.  Just a little more Christmas.  Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for our Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.

Until next time.....................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Cupcake Birthday

I had to do another birthday card for a niece this week.  I decided on cupcakes, as I hadn't done anything with my set in quite a while.  I saved a card very similar to mine in my ideas folder some time ago, but there is no watermark and I don't remember who made the sample.  Sorry I can't give credit for the inspiration.   Mine has been changed up a bit, and the inside is totally my idea.  But here is my take.

The inside has a gift envelope for money that I included as her birthday present.  And the envelope carries the cupcake theme.  The frosting on all the cupcakes is sparkly and with drawn chocolate jimmies, but hard to see in the photos.








I hope you like my birthday card.  Come back soon, I'm still working on Christmas cards, and soon I'll be doing some gift projects.  I'll be getting my Stampin'Up! pre-order of spring product this Tuesday and I am really anxious to get my fingers into all those springy colors, spring holidays, and flowers.  I'm really excited about all the pretty things Stampin'Up! has for us. 

Until next time............................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

For The Money Gifts

We have had some gorgeous weather the past few days.  Summer type weather.  But I suppose it is unreasonable to expect that beautiful weather all winter long, so today it will be cooler.  I need to go find my jacket again -- ha!

Today I have an assortment of things I have been working on for Christmas.  I am giving money to my almost grown and live far away nieces, and a donation to my uncle's monastery, and so on.  Therefore, I have made an assortment of gift boxes and gift cards for the nickels and dimes -- just kidding about the nickels and dimes.  I had made some gift cards earlier in the month using Scentsational Seasons, and I like all those trees, candy canes, bears and mugs so much that I just carried the theme on for these too.

Be of Good Cheer is the main designer paper, but I believe there is a bit of retired paper mixed in.  I have found so much hoarded, retired, paper that I need to use up.  I bet no one else hoards paper like I do, right?

I'll be back again soon with most likely more Christmas things.  I'm not finished yet.  Are you getting close to being finished?  These holidays are creeping up on me way too fast.

Until next time............................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down The Lines -- Island Indigo

The weeks are passing faster and faster.  I hope you are nearly finished getting ready for Christmas.  I'm still struggling.  However, today we're here for another Wednesday with our Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  You should have arrived from Joni's blogsite.  Isn't she amazing?  I always have fun looking at her creations. 

Our challenge this week is to use Island Indigo with More Mustard and Lucky Limeade OR Island Indigo with Baja Breeze and Rich Razzleberry.  I chose the later. 

My stamp set is Come To Bethlehem, and I heat embossed the image with white embossing powder.  I sponged first with Baja Breeze and then a little Island Indigo.  I mounted the image on Whisper White and then on the Island Indigo card.  Add a little Rich Razzleberry and Baja Breeze and some pearls to the side and done.  It was a fun and easy card and now I have one more Christmas card to mail.  I'm almost finished.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Now come along with me over to Teri's blogsite to see what she has today.  I know it is gorgeous. 

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Holiday Glimmer

Happy Tuesday.  Wow, where did the past few days go?  I barely remember a weekend, was there one?  It has been so busy in our household, yet I feel I'm not accomplishing anything.  Do you feel that way too?  Christmas is coming and I'm not ready.  So, with all that, I'll show you a couple more quick cards and then get back to my "chores."

The cut portion for these two cards was given to me by a friend (hi, Linda, and thank you), and all I needed to do to make them pretty was put some of our red and champagne glimmer behind the cuts.  It makes a really pretty and sparkly Christmas card.

I hope you have a great Tuesday, and be sure to come back tomorrow for our regular Wednesday blog hop.  The hop group will each have another "creation" using the colors from the color coach.

Until then.........................

Crafty hugs,
Sandy

Birthday Bear

Well I had a really fun day yesterday crafting with friends.  I got a lot done -- 15 Christmas cards and 3 gift cards.  But I won't have a lot to show here because most of the cards were repeats so that I can get the rest of my cards out this week.  But today I do have a birthday card.  I did this one for our 2 yr old grandson.  I think he'll like the little bear.  Hope you like it too.

Here is the inside and the envelope.












I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Now that we will be having yet another grand -- yup, another one is due next summer -- I'll have to break out the baby stuff again.  I just finished saying I wasn't buying any more baby stamps because I didn't know anyone with babies.  I guess that is what happens when you open your mouth to speak!   But we love all our grands, so we are excited about this one too.  And they are moving to the East Coast next summer, so we'll get lots more opportunities to spoil those kids.  Yippeeeeeee!!!

I hope you have a great weekend, and come back again for a visit soon.

Crafty Hugs
Sandy

Tagged

Here are two really quick cards using the Snow Festival tags.  The first card is no more than embossed cardstock, the tag, and a stamped "Merry Christmas."  For the second card I stepped it up a bit and added the gold ridge using the new gold marker, added a piece of baker's twine, and a little dazzling details here and there.  So easy to do one or two of these if you forgot to put someone on your card list -- oh, and if you get one of these from me, it's not because I "forgot" you, it is most likely because I have been so rushed that these quick ones have been the majority of my cards.

And so I am off and running again today.  It is the 5th day this week that I have been running everywhere, and it is the 6th day of the week.   Whew!  Today I will be crafting all day with some friends, I can't wait to get into my ink and stamps.  I have some new ones and am anxious to give them a try -- stamps that is, not friends.

Hope you are having a great week, and have a happy day.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down the Lines -- Calypso Coral

Thanks for stopping by today.  It is our Wednesday Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  You should have arrived from  Joni's blogsite.  Such a pretty creation, and such talent Joni has!  We were challenged this week to use Calypso Coral with Baja Breeze and Daffodil Delight or Calypso Coral with Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray.  I chose the first, and I knew right away this card with these colors could not be a Christmas card.  It had to be spring, so I jumped ahead to next season.   I colored Bordering on Romance with markers and mounted on Baja Breeze with a little designer paper behind.

You can't tell well from the first picture that this card has a slightly different opening.  I cut a portion of the front panel leaving part of the frames outside the front panel and showing the inside of the card behind.  Not real easy to see, but hopefully you get the idea.








I hope you liked my challenge today.  Now continue the hop by going to Teri's blogsite.  She has a WOW card for you today.

Until next time......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Multi-layered Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I'm still working on the leftover turkey, are you?  Usually I make a large turkey because we all feel the more leftovers the better.

I'm still working away on Christmas cards.  Today I sent out 24 with New Year's Eve party invitations.  I always aim to get out at least the cards that will have invitations by no later than the weekend after Thanksgiving.  So now they are out and the party is a go.

I really like the card I have for you today.  However, it has so many layers that I decided not to send too many of these.  I felt like I was cutting, and cutting, and cutting some more.

I hope you like it.

Be sure to come back again soon.  I have even more Christmas cards.  And on Wednesday it will be another blog hop for Coloring Down the Lines.

Until next time......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down the Lines -- Perfect Plum

It's Coloring Down the Lines blog hop Wednesday.  I bet you just arrived from Joni's blogsite.  Wasn't her entry pretty?  Love Joni's work.  We were challenged to use Perfect Plum with Marina Mist and Rose Red, or Perfect Plum with Riding Hood Red and More Mustard.  I used the first.

 
I just got the Illuminate ink pad in my order last week and wanted to try it.  I used it on the swirl stamp in Everything Eleanor.  In person it looks all shimmery, however here it looks more like VersaMark watermarking.  But it is nice and I plan to use it more.  In the same order I got the cotton ribbon and the Border Banter stamp set, so I tried printing on the ribbon.  It could be a bit darker, but I like the idea.  Another thing I tried was glittering with Dazzling Diamonds.  I like it on the Four Seasons stamp, but not so sure on the label.  I won't use DD on a label any more, maybe rhinestones would be better.  So, you have joined me in a real trial card, what do you think.  I would tweak a little more next time, but for the most part I like it.

Now, hop on along to Teri's blogsite.  She has some amazing creations on her site and I know she has a good one for you today.

Until next time..........................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Christmas Woods

I'm not sure if I have posted this one already, however, if so, it still is worth repeating.  I did something similar last year, but it remains a favorite.  It is very easy, but carries the "wow" factor.

I used my very favorite watercolor crayons directly on my Lovely as a Tree stamp.  I can't say often enough, I hope SU never, ever, EVER, retires Lovely as a Tree.  It is so versatile, and so beautiful.  This card was done by coloring Night of Navy directly on the stamp, then spritzing with water.  I then stamped on Whisper White cardstock several times.  I then colored the stamp one more time to stamp one more dark tree.  This technique makes the trees look like they are close and far, the way they would be in the woods.  I used a little glue here and there and then sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds.  Love it, and I hope you do too.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for our usual Wednesday Coloring Down the Lines blog hop. 

Until next time............................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Simple Challenge

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  I think I am.  Just a few more basic groceries and then all the cooking begins.  My grands are coming, so I am very excited about spending some time with them.  We have plans to make a few Christmas presents.  They are going to make their daddy's presents.  Every year we do something like Christmas ornaments, painted birdhouses, hand prints on serving trays, scrapbooks, anything handmade by them.  Of course I help, and of course we use my craft room and some of my "tools."  It is great fun.

Today I have a simple card I made for a challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches.  Here is the sketch they gave us for our guide.

 

 

And here is my card.

 

 

 This was so simple.  I just cut a strip of stockings from the Snow Festival DSP, stamped Merry Christmas and done.  I may make a few more of these as I start running out of time to get cards in the mail.

Until next time......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Christmas Watercolor

My post today is a simple little Christmas card.  I love my watercolor crayons, and I love to "color."  I plan to do a little more watercoloring over the next few weeks.  I don't know why I have put it aside for so long.  This set, Greeting Card Kids, is such a cute set and can be used all four seasons.  This little Christmas girl, unlike me, is totally ready for winter.  I can't even find my gloves.

I hope you are getting ready for the holidays, because they are coming fast.  Every year I wait just a little too long, and then I have to scramble to catch up.

Come back again soon to visit.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Workshop Candy

Here are more of the workshop samples using one stamp set and one package of designer paper.  There are wrapped nuggets, a decorated Hershey bar, a bookmark, a package tag with insert note and in front is a gift card holder -- insert a coffee card, restaurant card, money or a credit card.  I'll take the credit card with lots of money on it -- thank you.

This is the gift card.  The belly band keeps it all closed and adds some decoration.

You can see how the coffee or credit card fits on the inside.  The gift card measurements are 4 1/4 x 10 1/2 then scored, starting at the bottom, at 3"  4 1/4"  5 1/2" and 8 1/2"  I think if you look at the picture you can see how it goes.  Fold first score up, the next down, the next up and that top piece folds down over the whole thing.  See the part where the Sheetz card is inserted?  You can just slit at the fold wide enough to slip the card in, or as I did, you can cut a little notch.  Be sure to tape or glue below the Sheetz card so that the whole gift card won't unfold and fall apart.  Decorate and slip the belly band on and you are done.  If you have any questions, let me know.





Wednesday I'll try to bring you a couple more things that I demonstrated at the workshop.   Have a nice day tomorrow and I'll see you Wednesday.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Hostess Gifts

I am back today with some focus on the individual items from my "make a lot with one stamp set and one pack of paper."  This is the hostess basket I gave to my hostess.  She also got the sample cards that I demonstrated during the party.  She loved the candle and base when she saw it, so I was happy that I planned to give it to her after the party.  She also got a wrapped Hershey bar, a decorated pen and a Cherry Cobbler ink pad.

And here is a close up of the candle all wrapped up as a nice gift.  The tag has an insert with a little Thank You.

I hope you like this part of my display.  I'll be back again with more, and also with the cards I demonstrated and the make n takes.

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend.  I would love to have a few more, but will take what I can get.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Workshop Array

Because I am scheduling this post to go live tomorrow morning, it is ok to show it to you.  I will be in my workshop having fun, showing, playing, selling, and whatever else you do in workshops.  My hostess asked me to do a couple of things, and one of them was to show her friends how to use one stamp set to do  more than one thing.  I think I told you about this the other day.  I used the Scentsational Season stamp set, along with the coordinating framelits.  I went one step farther and used one pack of designer paper -- Be of Good Cheer -- and still have a whole lot left over.  Then I set out to make a bunch of stuff.  Of course, I also threw in there a couple of dies and a little embossing-- all for the purpose of showingwhat great things you can do with SU product.  Here is what I came up with.

I'll zero in on the individual things over the next couple days.  I was also working on a scrapbook page, but just didn't get it done.  I still hope to finish it over the next couple of days, just not in time for the workshop. I did a couple of cards, and 2 of them I showed a simple version and then a stepped up version.  I also wrapped some candy, decorated a candle, decorated pens, made tags, gift cards and even decorated a couple candy canes.  The canes are already inserted into the individual packs I have for each lady.  I hope they like all the samples and get really enthusiastic over the stamp set, I know I am.  Oops, I notice a stepped card sample that snuck into this picture, but was not part of the stamp set.

She also asked me to do a couple of other things, which I will show another time.  I should have lots of stuff to show you over the next few days, so come back for a visit.

Until next time.......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down The Lines -- Bashful Blue

Happy Wednesday!  Did you vote yesterday?  Did your candidate win?  Since I am scheduling this post on Tuesday I don't know yet who is the winner. 

It's another Wednesday blog hop with our handy dandy Color Coach.  You should have arrived from Joni's blogsite.  Joni is a new and very welcome addition to our challenges.  I know you'll love what she has to show us.

This week we were challenged to use Bashful Blue with Rose Red and Wild Wasabi or Bashful Blue with Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery.  This one was tough for me.  I am not a fan of Bashful Blue, and I started with the Celery and Choc Chip.  Could not come up with any ideas.  Then I took a look at the Rose and Wasabi and thought Christmas.  Ha! Christmas!  And this is how I ended.  I've been wanting to use this sparkly snowflake, so by using the Rose and Celery it has a Chrismas feel, don't you think?  Well I ended up liking it, hope you do too. 

Here is the inside.  I think since it is Christmas I'll be doing more printed sentiment and less hand-written notes.  This sentiment struck my fancy and the little greenery from Christmas Lodge finishes off the inside.








Now you need to hop over to Teri's blogsite.  Teri has been wowing us with some really super creations, and I know she has something super cool today.  Does "cool" date me?  Well, perhaps I should use the more current "awesome."  Either way, go take a look at Teri's super entry.

Until next time....................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Fall Cuts

Did you vote yet today?  If not, you better get out there and make your vote count.  It is the most important thing you can do today.

I have another fall card for you.  There is very little stamping on this one.  I used the Autumn Accents Bigz Die to cut leaves from Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Orchard Harvest DSP I really like the die.  It makes cutting all those leaves easy as pie.  I made the acorns sparkle a little with the Vanilla spritz, but you can't see it from this picture.  The veins on the leaves were made with Simply Scored. 

I don't have many more fall cards, but every once in a while I get tired of what I am working on -- which is Christmas right now -- and I have to turn to something different.  This is something very different from the red, green and glimmer paper of the Christmas cards I'm working on.  You'll be seeing a bunch of that stuff soon.

Here is the inside of my card.  I used French Foliage leaves for the inside.  That leaf set is my very favorite fall set.  I used it a lot this fall.










I hope you like my card today.  Be sure to come back tomorrow for our Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  You'll enjoy the creations the group has made for tomorrow.

Until next time........................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Lovely Christmas

Lovely As A Tree has to be the all time best "go to" Stampin'Up! stamp set.  Every new customer just has to have that set.  I certainly hope SU never ever retires the set.  This card is very simple, yet has a lot of detail.  I masked an oval then stamped a background stamp.  Then I used the alternate mask and stamped the row of trees and a word stamp within the oval and did a little sponging.  Lastly I stamped the single tree in the foreground and the sentiment.  After that it is just a matter of mounting it.

I hope you like my Christmas card.  There will be mainy more to follow, I am sure.  I am just getting started with Christmas designs.

Quick post today.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Be sure to come back soon, and especially, don't forget the Wednesday blog hop with the color challenge.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Fall Birthday

My card today was designed by my good friend and upline, Buffy Cooper.  She makes some awesome creations.  This one was for a techniques class and the objective was to use our acrylic blocks to transfer ink to paper.  We applied color to a block with a marker, spritzed with water and then stamped on paper.  I did mine just a little different in that I streaked more and left some white areas, but the end result was pretty much the same.  I have done some similar cards by dropping ink on a silicone craft sheet and "smooshing" it around.  This technique is a bit more controlled, and I like it a lot (thanks a bunch, Buffy). 

Well I hope everyone survived Hurricane Sandy without too much damage, and a minimum of frustration.  We were spared.  I think the mountain we live on protected us from some of the wind.  We had some, but not enough to take down any trees, and there was little or no damage in our neighborhood.  We live in the woods, and we were pleasantly surprised that all the leaves came down but none of the trees, and the power stayed on.  So now I have to empty my bathtub full of water, empty all the bottles of water, use up the 3 pitchers of coffee we prepared (to heat over a Bunsen Burner) and put away all the candles and flashlights -- but no complaints, we were spared.

 However, we did get a lot, A LOT, of water.  This is a picture of the low water bridge we use to get over the river to our house -- the only way in and out of our community.  This is the water beginning to cover the bridge.

This is what happens when it really floods.  This was taken Tuesday morning from our side of the river.  See the cars on the other side..............

...............this is how we get to those cars on the other side so that we can get in and out of our neighborhood until the river recedes.  Still no complaints, we were spared.









I hope you liked my card today, and hope you enjoyed my little trip to our wonderful river. 

Until next time.........................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down The Lines -- Baja Breeze

It's another Wednesday Coloring Down the Lines blog hop.  You should have come from Helen's blogsite.  I haven't seen her contribution yet, but she always has something really great.  I am posting my card on Sunday night because we are expecting Hurricane Sandy to visit us.  Our power often goes out during bad weather, so we are preparing to be without for at least a couple days.  Pray I am wrong.  So, it is Sunday and I am doing this post and scheduling it to show on Wednesday.

Our color selection was Baja Breeze with Basic Gray and Cajun Craze or Baja Breeze with More Mustard and Cherry Cobbler.  I chose the first.  This is a very simple card as I wanted to keep it pretty clean and just one last fall type card -- I know, I already said that.  I am working on Christmas cards but could not see these colors for Christmas.  I hope you like it.

This is a picture of my crazy, goofy, grandkids horsing around in the front yard just before they headed home today.  They visited for the weekend.  If you wonder why my grandson has pink (PINK??) socks on, it is because he has his football pants, socks and cleats on in this picture.  He and his whole team agreed to wear pink socks in honor of Breast Cancer month.  And my granddaughter still has her cheerleading uniform on.  They rushed up here yesterday afternoon right after their football games and discovered they didn't bring any other clothes along.  Oh my, good thing grandma keeps a few things here for them to wear while here.  But I sent them home in what they were wearing when they arrived.  So those are my crazy grands!


I hope you like my card today, and also my grands from the weekend.  Now hop over to Teri's blogsite to see what she has done.  I'm sure it is something nice, it always is.  Come back to visit soon.  I hope you're surviving Hurricane Sandy without too much trouble.  Stay safe.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Sweet Hot Chocolate

Today I have a card I made with the super cute little Scentsational stamp set.  I love all the stamps in that set.  I am working on several ideas for a workshop coming up in 2 weeks.  I won't be putting all my samples on my blog until after the workshop.  I don't want to show everything before the gals get there, but a little tease won't hurt, right?  So here is a peek.  I've done so many cute things with this set, cards, tags, gift and hot chocolate pouches, notebook cover, pen holder, and even a candle ring.  The candy cane is such a beautiful touch to any card, and that little gingerbread guy makes me smile every time I see him.

 The designer paper on this card is Be of Good Cheer, and is another of my favorites for this holiday season.  You'll be seeing more of it.

 Here's a close up of the cup.  I decided my hot chocolate will be served with a fancy cup, thus all the glitz.  The canes may be used to sweeten the chocolate, or just to enjoy.  Ummmmm, I can almost taste it.










Speaking of tasting, I may have to go out in the kitchen to see if I have some hot chocolate.  My hubby and I just finished putting a bunch of wood on our front porch, and with wood and fire, hot chocolate is a must.  In fact, the weather forecast for us this week is a little scary.  We have Hurricane Sandy headed our way (and before you try to tease me about the name, trust me, everyone I know is coming up with jabs about my namesake, but I bet no one will mess with me after this).  I'm in the mountains of West Virginia, and I hear we can expect snow -- yikes!  snow?  Not yet, I'm not ready for winter!  How much snow?  Who knows.  We're told the higher elevations around here could get more than 2 feet.  I hope we aren't too high or too close, I'm not ready for more than a half inch or so.

Wherever you are, stay safe, and I hope the hurricane does not cause you too much grief.

Until next time.......................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Coloring Down The Lines -- Wild Wasabi

It's Wednesday blog hop time again.  You have probably arrived from Pam's blogsite, but if you started here just follow each next person and eventually you will finish all and even come back here. Wasn't Pam's card super?  What a "bootiful" and unique card.  She always has something fun to see.

The colors this week are Wild Wasabi with So Saffron and Wild Plum or Wild Wasabi with Marina Mist and Early Espresso.  I chose the first.  Forgive the shadows and "stuff" in my pictures.  It is 6:00 p.m. and I can't find much daylight anywhere.

 

I used the Snow Much Fun stamp set and a piece of the Festival of Prints DSP in the Holiday Mini.  Love that pack of paper, there are so many pieces that are fun.  I'm working away on Chrismas things and using lots of that paper and Be Of Good Cheer DSP, and that pretty champagne glimmer paper. 

Hope you like my challenge this week.  Now hop on over to Teri's blogsite.  Amazing some of the things she has been doing.  Wait until you see what she has for you today.

Hope to see you again soon.............................

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy

Halloween Finale

This is the last of the Halloween cards.  I mentioned a while back that I had found a really cute card on another blog.  I absolutely love this card.  I rarely copy, exactly, a card created by someone else.  Usually I take the idea and change it around to make it my own.  This one is by Aime Crelsinger and I love it just the way she made it, right down to the color combination.  I knew my grandkids would go nuts over these characters and the googly eyes.  I can't wait to see how they react.  My treat packages using the googly ghouls stamps and the designer kit (in the Holiday Mini, pg 27) are ready to go in the mail this week to the West Coast, and for the local grands, their treat packages have already been delivered to their dad and hidden away for the big day.

So for this card I did change 2 things -- guess that makes it "mine" after all.  I used the scallop punch because it is current and she had used the pinked one retired last year.  The other thing I changed, she did another level of black around the windows and I left it "bare."  I started to use orange and black, but liked hers so much that green it is.  What do you think, isn't it just the cutest?  Of course I used so many of the googly eyes that I need to go order some more.  Glad they are inexpensive, 'cause I'm buying several packs.  I have been using the eyes for most of my cards lately that have any sort of character with eyes.  Love those little moving eyeballs!

Here is the inside, simple but spooky.  I left plenty of room so grampa and I could write some well wishes and a few scary words.











Here are a couple more vacation pictures.  If you are tired of vacation pics, just skip them.  I promise there will only be these 3 and perhaps 2 more from the last city we visited.  Have a happy Sunday and hope to see you thisWednesday for our next Wednesday blog hop with the color coach.

 This is of a couple castles seen while cruising along the Danube -- which is mostly green, not blue.  But it is the beautiful Danube.  Wonderful, lazy, cruise for 4 days.  Just what I needed for a little rest from all the walking around we had done for the first week while in Prague and Vienna.

And this is a pic of our river ship.  The ships used for river cruises are very long and rather flat.  Only around 150 passengers, which makes for a nice cozy, friendly, experience.  We love the river cruising.

And here is my funny, loving, travel companion (a/k/a hubby) and me.  This was taken one night at dinner.  Oh my, the food on that ship was wonderful!  Luckily for us we walked so much during the rest of the vacation that we both lost weight rather that gained from all that food.





Thank you for visiting today and come back soon.

Crafty Hugs,
Sandy