2014 Calendar - January

January, 2014

Happy New Year!  At least it will be soon.

I found the swirled cut on a cartridge I bought quite awhile ago on one of those great sales, but since it was already after Christmas, I put it aside.  After looking for some January ideas, I found this cut.  It's quite thick, actually - 4 layers of cardstock.  The base white piece we were able to lay down a layer of Stickles and allow it to dry before adding the other layers.  The red layer had to have the Stickles added after everything was placed.  That one was trickier, but not as difficult as I thought it would be.

The snowflake was a surprise find - Mom and I had to go and pick up more adhesive during the project, and I saw these ... and knew they'd be perfect just there! 

I hope you've enjoyed each of the calendar pages. 

2013 Christmas Card Challenge - May 2013!

 They always say April showers bring May flowers - well, here in the mid-south (some say the Southwest).... we had SNOW on May 2nd - which breaks all known records...

It's been a LOT colder than normal this year, and with a 2 year long drought - the amount of rain we've had lately is a wonderful thing!


On that same bent, the Christmas Card Challenge theme for May is:

SNOWFLAKES!

Punched, embossed, hand-cut, scherenschnitte (I really LOVE that technique), Cricut cut, etc. etc. etc. 

Click HERE to see the entire set of rules for my Christmas Card Challenge!

Basically, create 6 cards based on the month's theme including the inside sentiment and stamped envelopes to coordinate with the stated theme.

I've used this Cartridge before, and spent a little time working on picking small pieces but I think they turned out very well!!
There is a Nativity snowflake, snowmen snowflakes, gingerbread men snowflakes, Christmas candy snowflakes, and a Santa snowflake!  It cracks me up that there's a snowman snowflake since snowflakes are their source. LOL  :) 

I also embossed each background with 2 different folders - an old favorite, and a new larger design.

I hope you enjoy these really unique, unusual snowflake cards!

     

              

One of the new rules this year is to have the insides and envelopes all complete.  I did stamp the insides of the cards with a sentiment, but forgot to take a picture!  Whoops!  :(

 

 

2013 Christmas Card Challenge January, 2013

 Happy New Year!  Happy 2013!  I hope this year turns out so much better than 2012 - even if it was a good year, we always hope for better.

We begin with a few rule changes (not too many) for the 2013 Christmas Card Challenge, only to make it a better experience when you're ready to send out your cards.

Click HERE to view the complete list of rules with the changes highlighted in red.

In short, you are making 6 (or more) Christmas cards based on the monthly theme, can use ANY company's products, and submit them here by the 20th at midnight, CST in the Linky at the bottom of the page.

The first challenge for January 2013 is:  Christmas Trees! 

 I just love them - collect them, would have mine up every day of the year if I could, but that's just not practical.  Plus, I'll wager that lots of people still have their Christmas trees up.


I CASE'd these from another Stampin' Up Demonstrator, and though the pictures look alright, they are stunning in person!

 Here are my 6 cards.

Close up - The trees are stamped and embossed with white embossing powder, I used a Versamark pen to add the snowflakes falling.  A 2-way Zig pen helped the Dazzling Diamonds to make the trees look like they are covered in snow.  Christmas trees AND snow.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

Here is one of the new rule additions.  Finish the inside of the card, stamped, and lined if necessary.

Another of the new rule additions; stamp the envelopes with the theme as well!

I put the cards and envelopes all together, and they are ready to go in November right after Thanksgiving!  First 6 cards done.  YAY!

I hope you will join me!

Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

What a Difference a Week Makes!

I kept telling my husband we were having more snow this year.... of course, he wouldn't believe me - and he works for the weather service! I was cheering when I heard we were having snow - but the timing was a little off. It was the 2 last days of our Spring Break!!! I had to take the opportunity to take some pictures of my spring flowers having to deal with the snow. We ended up with 4 1/2 inches of snow on Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon, the majority of it was gone! I would have liked it to stay a little longer even though spring is my very favorite season.

Please enjoy!!
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Christmas Eve Blizzard in Okielandia!!

I just had to post these pictures! Oklahoma had its first ever blizzard warning - they couldn't stop talking about it on the news... so we just stayed in and enjoyed the beautiful snowflakes! No, that's wrong. I should say that I enjoyed the snow... my husband certainly doesn't like the snow (shoveling) or the cold.

We ended up with 8 inches of snow when it was all over and it made everything look so beautiful!

We had a huge snowdrift on the back of the house that came up above the bottoms of the windows.... probably 4 feet in all - maybe a little more.

Now, almost 2 weeks later, we still have some of the snow left in our backyard simply because of the FREEZING temps we've had lately.


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Oklahoma Spring Snow!

Just some pictures from the front and back of the house... 8 hours, and 5 inches of snow later!!!!!

Don't the cardinals just look so awesome on the bird feeder?? I was busy working on my Cricut projects and enjoying looking out the window at the birds all afternoon!

When you click, the pictures will be full size - BIG pics... Enjoy!

A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.