Christmas Card/Box - FBW Challenge plus a special card from Abby

Good Morning! For FBW this week, it's another open challenge which means you can create anything as long as it has a butterfly, fairy or angel on it!! Here lately I haven't been able to blog surf/hop near as much as I like. I'm just not feeling the best and honestly have no idea what the problem is. That in it self can be frustrating and down right depressing. Especially when you go to a Dr. and they don't know. Now I'm in the process of more tests and other Drs. so we'll see what happens but in the mean time I'm so tired and just not myself that it's so hard to just meet the day to day requirements!! Prime example, if you know me at all, I'm a total night owl - love staying up late, by myself, creating away. For the last two weeks though I've been in bed by 9:30 as I'm just so tired! That means that I'm losing at least 3 hours of prime creating time!!

I did manage to see this cute card/box idea on Tammy's blog and knew it would be perfect for my FUNShops this month. Here's my take on it:


Everything is from The Angel Company. Just click on the item and you'll be taken to my Ecommerce site where you can purchase it if you'd like. I used Scarlet and Dark Green 12x12 Cardstock, 8.5 x 11 Ivory Cardstock, my Scor-Pal, Edge Designs Stamp set, Hear the Angels Stamp set, Delicious Fall Stamp set (inside sentiment that you'll see below). I colored her in with colored pencils and added a little Crystal Stickles. The "for you" and label are both from a hostess set. Here's a picture of the inside of the "card":


These are so cute and have a WOW factor when presenting them. Just think what you can put in the drawer - candy, tags, jewelry, 3x3 card set. I mean they are perfect for a little gift giving this holiday season! I had a booth last weekend at a Breast Cancer Awareness Crop and sold these as kits - EVERYTHING included (stamped images and all) plus a color photo and directions (with measurements for easy duplicating) for $3.50. I sold out of them and am now making more for my crop in November. So if you'd like to purchase one, just email me so I can make sure to make you one too!

Abby is always wanting to create - you'll always find her with paper and markers in hand as her favorite past time is drawing. She really amazes me with her "free hand" skills - she didn't get that from me! Anyway, she wanted to participate in FBW so here is her creation for this week:

I don't help her at all. She picks out an image and then whatever paper she wants from my scrap bins. The foam stickers are from her supply. Daddy was pretty proud of this. His comment was "well someone takes after Mommy". I love how she signs everything with her name - she has to make sure it's her creation!

I hope you'll stop by Danni's blog and participate this week in the FBW challenge. We'd love to see your creation! Also, don't forget about the other team members - they'll have some wonderful stuff to and their blog links are on the right hand side.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm hoping tomorrow I'll get some much needed free time where I'll be able to blog surf a little. I miss all your fabulous creations and wonderful blogs! I feel like I haven't "spoken" with my friends in forever in blog land and I miss you so!! At Preschool we are having our Halloween Sing-A-Long so we should be done with school before 11am tomorrow! Whoohoo!!

Sorry FBW fans

Forgive me as I do not have a Flutter By Card to share today. I'm hoping to get one done but I just have not been feeling well at all. The last few days I've been suffering from the worst migraine I've ever had!! My ears and the pressure in my head is unbelievable so I have an appointment this week with an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor in hopes to get this pain taken care of! I'd like to say I'll get a card done but honestly it's not looking too good :o)

HOWEVER, I know the other flutter by girls will have some awesome creations to share so stop by their blog for some fluttering inspiration. Also, Danni has told us for the holidays Angels are okay to use as well - so now to participate this week you can create ANYTHING as long as it has a fairy, angel or butterfly on it!! Come on, join in - you won't be disappointed! Be sure to stop by Danni's blog to link up your creation so we can all check it out!!

Thanks for stopping by - hopefully I'll share my card later today...

A Few Treats

I've been working on a few treats that I'd like to share with you. First up are little chocolate mummies. My uber talented friend Barb, created some fabulous samples for The Angel Company which are showcased on the website. One of your samples gave me the idea to wrap crepe paper around small Hershey bars and glue small eyes on them. I made quite a few and will be giving them away at the Diva Crop here in Topeka on Saturday, October 24th. I'll have a booth there selling goodies, doing a FREE make n take and tons of samples and inspiration. If you are in town stop by - I'd love to see you and one of these mummies would love to go home with you!

TAC has the PERFECT stamp set to go with these cuties but I haven't made my sign up yet. You can see the set though, Bone Appetit on my online store here! The mummies are easy to make and easy on the pocket book as well. I used one & half rolls of crepe paper which I picked up at the dollar store. The eyes are a bulk package from JoAnn's for $2.99. I bought one large bag and one small bag of Hershey bars. I used most of those but some got grabbed by the 'ol hubby and daughter - they LOVE sweets so I have to hide stuff. Well I didn't get them hidden quick enough!! I have eyes left though so I could easily do some more. This is a quick project that you could do while watching all those tv shows too.

Next up are Ghirardelli chocolate holders. I saw the idea on a blog a long time ago and "filed" the idea away for later. It seems that I'm always wanting to give a little something something to people and I don't have anything on hand. I made these for that purpose - birthdays, thank you's, thinking of you's, etc. I even made a few Christmas ones - I know a lot of people that do secret santa's and this is a perfect gift for that! I used scrap paper for all of them so the main cost was the large bag of Ghirardelli's. I also found anything square - Reese's peanut butter cups and York peppermint patties work as well.

Mine are 3 1/2 by 6" and scored at 2 3/4" and 3". I used my Scor-Pal for this so it went super fast. There's a little overhang when you fold on the score lines, which I trimmed with my trimmer. Of course, you could leave it and it would like fine - I'm just a little OCD about those things, lol! I put a strip of double sided tape on the chocolate and adhered it to the inside. The holders stay closed with Velcro. I cut a circle Velcro in half so I could get two holders per dot. To decorate the front I used my Just-Rite stamp sets which I colored in with my Copics. I punched out circles and rectangles using my scrap cardstock. These took more time - and I'm not even done with all of them. I'm making quite a few though for me to have on hand and to sell at craft shows. Who wouldn't like receiving one of these - I mean a handmade item and chocolate?!?! AWE---SOME!!

So what do you think? I hope I've inspired you to create something - thanks so much for stopping by!!

Flutter By Kitty

Oh how I enjoy Wednesdays! I mean it's Flutter by time, the week's half way over and I don't have to work at the preschool but a couple of hours!! The weather has been so cold and gloomy - I'm not ready for it. I'm one that LOVES sunshine...even a little. And now we are supposed to have rain for like the next 3 days. If I could just get a good heater for my basement then I'd just lock myself in my scrap room all day!!

Yesterday, I posted a card I made with the new Penny Black stamps I got. I decided to use them again for my card today. I colored my image in using my Aquacolor Crayons and Niji Waterbrush again. I love the look it gives and by using the water brush to crayon technique I'm able to control my color better and get nice results.

I used a Mojo Monday sketch for the layout. Here's a close up of the image. I like how I put yellow around the kitty - at least someone is seeing some sunshine, lol!

And speaking of kitties I might as well show mine - Here's Jazzy. She's a little prissy but she's my kitty and I love her :o)

Geez I'm a little backwards today. I usually get the details out in the beginning - oh well! The challenge this week is an OPEN one - that means anything goes as long as you use a butterfly or fairy on your card! Come in and join the fun - create a card and then share it by linking it on Danni's blog using Mr. Linky! This week we have a guest designer, Christi. She has a fabulous blog so be sure to stop by and say hi! Don't forget to check out the other mega talented DT members as well.

Well I'm outta here - off to do a few hours of work at the preschool and then hopefully home to do some much needed blog surfing. I'm having withdrawals of visiting and commenting on your wonderful blogs. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

For You

Good Morning to you! I'm so glad you stopped by! I'd like to share a card that I made using a sketch for my Yahoo group. I'm on the sketch team for the Create-A-Card group and we only have two more weeks left until we get a break for the holidays. I so enjoy the team and the sketches but am ready for a little break as I just can't seem to get everything accomplished and with the holidays coming I'm sure it will only get worse. As hard as I try to get ahead it just doesn't happen for me. You know I think I should just realize that and move on - I mean why dwell...we aren't all the same and I guess being ahead of the game just isn't me!

Here is the sketch which I LOVE - very easy and can be used over and over again. I originally thought I'd put a button where the circle is but it didn't work with my image. I have another habit where I think the sentiment has to go on the front of the card - this I KNOW stems from the fact that most of the time I just make a card front not the actual card. Oh well...


Here's my card. I thought this could be used for Christmas or even a birthday that happens in December.

A little while ago I picked up a set of Penny Black stamps. I don't have very many of them but love what I've seen. When I saw this set of little critters I knew it needed to go into my collection. Whatcha think?

Today is a Preschool day - the job is going good and I enjoy the little ones. I don't enjoy waking up early or having to get out of my pj's but oh those are the sacrifices we have to make in order to pay the bills! Hope your Tuesday is a good one!! See ya tomorrow for Flutter By Wednesday!

Winter Wishes

Is it just me or does the weekend zoom by way too fast?!?! Although it was FREEZING here in Kansas this weekend, it allowed me to stay indoors and get some much needed things accomplished. Now to just keep that momentum going as I have some craft shows, FUNShops and Vendor crops coming up!

Every Monday I share a Christmas card. This week Maria challenged us with a sketch. I received a new stamp set from The Angel Company, Winter Flurries and I knew that this sketch would be perfect for it. Here is the fabulous sketch from Maria:


and here is my card:

The paper is some left over Karen Foster paper. The cardstock is Scarlet from TAC. Each pack has 25 sheets and comes in 8.5x11 or 12x12 size. It's a wonderful cardstock that I use a lot! The snowflake is left over from a Jolee's package. The sentiment is from Stampendous. I colored the penguin's scarf & the swirls using my Niji Water Brush and Aquacolor Crayons. If you've been frustrated by your water brush (I know I was) you won't with the Niji - it is FABULOUS!!! Finally I have a brush where I can actually control the water flow!

Check out the other design team members blogs to see their wonderful interpretation of the sketch. That's it for me today. Abby is out of school and my BF from college is supposed to be stopping by on her way back home. Which means I need to get off the computer and clean the house - quick :o) Have a great day!!

Halloween & Winner

Happy Saturday to you - I don't usually post much on the weekends but since I've been missing the last two days I thought I better get on here and announce the winner of my blog candy. Thank you for all the well wishes - I'm starting to feel a little better and am hoping to be rid of this crud soon!! First off though I'd like to share a Halloween card that we made at my FUNShops last month. I started off using the mummy from the Trick or Treaters set. We applied Fun Flock to him after coloring him with colored pencils. It really adds a little something extra to the card - and everyone loves rubbing it! The little guy to the left is from a new set that I got after I made my mummy card. He's from Spooky Boys. So at my FUNShops each person could choose which image they wanted to use.

Here's a close up of the Fun Flock on the images. I totally recommend using a glue pen rather than liquid glue when applying flock. This is how I do it. I use my glue pen and color in parts of the mummy. Let's say the head first - once I've applied the glue I sprinkle the flock on top of it and then gently tap it down. If you use liquid glue and tap it down your going to get flock in other places than you probably wanted. Also, it takes longer for the liquid glue to dry rather than the glue pen. I then tap off the excess fun flock (this is easier if you do it all in your Tidy Tray - as you can continuously reuse the flock). Next, I continue doing the rest of the image.

I should point out that the boy from Spooky Boys was colored using my Copics - and guess what?!?! We sell them now through The Angel Company!! How cool is that?!?! To see the great sets we offer just click here.

Now that I have online 24hr/7 day a week shopping, you can just click on the items and go right to the site. I make it easier than ever to get these fabulous products delivered right to your door!! As always, if you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment. I read everyone of them and am here to help you!!

Now probably what you've been waiting for - the winner of the blog candy! First off, thank you to all you left such wonderful comments about my card, my daughter and my giveaway. I appreciate each and everyone of you and am thankful I have such wonderful readers and followers. I had Abby draw the name and she pulled out

JENNIFER CARTER

Congrats Jennifer!! Just shoot me your address and I'll mail out your goodies next week!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!!

Flutter By Wednesday & Blog Candy

Good Morning - sorry for the lack of posts. I wasn't feeling well this weekend and went to the doctor to find out that I have ear infections in both ears plus a throat infection. I'm on medication but am just so tired and miserable. Honestly, I don't think the medicine is helping much. Last night I finally got a semi decent night of sleep so maybe things will turn around!

If you've ever been to my blog you know that Wednesday's mean Flutter By Challenges. This week our challenge was an open one - anything goes as long as you have a butterfly or fairy on your card. I purchased a few digi stamps from PCS and thought Itty Bitty Betty Butterfly was perfect.

I used Mercy's sketch here. I so enjoy her blog and sketches but haven't had time to participate as I'd hope. I highly recommend checking out her blog! The DP is from BasicGrey. It's Indian Summer. Very pretty paper - love the colors! It always disappoints me to see my card on here because I swear the colors and coloring are so much better IRL!! Trust me! I colored Betty with my Copics. Quick comment about Digi's - I like them but have trouble color them. When I used my Copics the image would bleed. Well I got an Epson printer and their ink is smudge proof - no more problems!!! Just wanted to put that out there for others who may have been frustrated by digi stamps.

Here's a close up of Betty:

I added Crystal Stickles to the outside portion of the wings. Not sure if I'm diggin' that but oh well - it's done now :o) Be sure to stop by Danni's blog and play along! We'd love to see your creation!! Don't forget to stop by my fellow team member blogs as well- there is always some FAB-U-OSO creations to see!

Last but not least, don't forget today is the last day to register for my Blog Candy Giveaway - I've been blogging for a year and want to thank all my readers and visitors by giving away some goodies. Here is another picture of a few more things I've added - pack of Bo Bunny paper, pack of Bazzill Bling paper and a mini book. There will also be some images that I'll stamp out and include. To enter go here and scroll to the bottom for details on how to enter. HURRY THOUGH - contest closes this evening!!! (FYI - I know it previous post it says noon but I won't be here - so I'm leaving it open until 7pm central time tonight)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Brrrr

Well I hope the weather today isn't an inclination of what is to come because boy is it cold outside!! It's in the 50's with a VERY strong Northern wind (we're even under a wind advisory) and down right chilly. Lucky for me there is no where I have to go and I can stay warm and toasty indoors getting some projects done - oh and I'll keep sipping on my coffee, chai tea or hot apple cider all day!! Hubby leaves town for a conference this weekend and Abby will probably stay at Grandma & Papa's for a night so I might actually get a lot of stuff accomplished this weekend. Either that or I'll get some much needed rest - I've been fighting some illness and figure it's just some little bug I received for all those runny, yucky noses I'm around at the preschool!! I think I'll see about purchasing stock in hand sanitizer as it's my new best friend!! :o)

Since it's chilly out I thought I'd share a wintery card. I'm a huge collector of snowmen - love em, gotta have em all! So when I saw the new set, Merriest Wishes from TAC I just new I had to have it! I mean snowmen and angels - hello, AWE-SOME!

I used Stardust Clear Gelly Pen to accent the wings but I'm not sure you can see it very well. I love how you have the control of a pen to add shimmer exactly where you want it. I used my colored pencils and OMS to color her in.

The DP is from Lily Anna SWIC and the cardstocks are from the Toodle Loo collection. I just got my online shopping website through TAC so you can order anytime, day or night, 24 hours a day and have it shipped directly to your door! If you click on the supplies you'll be directed straight to the ordering site. If you have any questions just let me know!

Well that's it for me - guess I better get out of the pj's and start the day. I hope you have a warm Friday that's full of great joy! Thanks so much for stopping by!!