2920 Days...

Okay, this card may seem a little funny at first glance because of the "random" number on the front. No, I do not mistakenly think that we are approaching the year 2920. Hee hee! Mine and Drew's anniversary is on Tuesday, and we'll be celebrating 8 years of marriage. I decided to do something a little different and put the number of days we've been married on the front of the card, instead of just "happy anniversary" or even the number of years. So, 365 x 8 = 2920. :)

It's so funny to think about the years sometimes... It often seems that it was "just yesterday" that we were getting married, but then at other times, it seems like it has been WAY longer than 8 years! So much has happened and changed in that amount of time. Having that rear view, I wonder how much more will change in the NEXT 8 years, etc. Ya know? Well, we aren't promised time, riches, or easy circumstances, but I'm thankful that the time God has planned for me on this earth can be spent with Drew. We still have a great time just being together, and we have two super kids (and one on the way, who I'm sure will be just as wonderful as the other two). I wonder if they will ever understand just how much they are loved?? ;)

This card was inspired by this week's Card Patterns sketch. I just love this layout, and it helped me organize the idea I had in my head for this card.


Paper: Webster's Pages Waiting for Santa and Sweet Season, Baja Breeze (SU). Ink: Shimmerz Spritz - Tuscan Sun. Accessories: Doily (white, sprayed with the Spritz), Pink Paislee Licorice Glitter Chip Alphas, Black Buttons.

One Year Better

I am really enjoying the Card Positioning Systems challenge this week... It requires that you choose ANY of their 2010 sketches, so it's been very fun looking back through all of the fabulous sketches! For this birthday card, I chose to use sketch 164.

I really love this Banner Builder stamp set from PTI. I think it's really easy to make a fun and colorful card with it, and it is amazing how the colors really just take center stage. I think that everything on this card, except for the Black Rhinestones and touches of StarDust Stickles, is actually from PTI.

We are still doing the post-Christmas clean-up thing here, unfortunately! At least the pace has been slower, so there has been more time to stamp and relax. ;) Hope you are having a wonderful day! Leave me a comment and let me know what you are up to!

Stamps: Banner Builder (PTI). Paper: Pure Poppy, Bitty Dots, White. Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy, Simply Chartreuse, Lemon Tart, Hawaiian Shores. Accessories: Hawaiian Shores Button, Pure Poppy Satin Ribbon, StarDust Stickles, Black Kaisercraft Rhinestones.

Sparkly Love

Hi, everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous week, wherever you are! Our Christmas night ended with SNOW, and we've played in it for the past couple of days. It has finally mostly melted now, and the kids were sad to see it go.

I made this card for my parents' anniversary next week. Aren't I on top of things? (Let's not think about the fact that my dad's birthday is Monday and MY anniversary is Tuesday...both before the occasion THIS card is for. And neither of the other two cards are made.) ;)


I drew inspiration from two places for this card. First, the CPS sketch for this week, which says to take any of the sketches from 2010 and make a card! I knew that sketch 153 would be perfect for an anniversary card, with the heart right in the middle! This would make a great valentine, too.


I also used the Tuesday Trigger, stripes, from Moxie Fab World. I love using stripes, and my card uses a sweet (although more subtle) arrangement of a striped pattern. I just love the Sugar Rush collection from Basic Grey!!

Paper: Pink Pirouette (SU), Going Grey, Basic Grey Sugar Rush. Accessories: Lace Ribbon, Heart Doily (Target Dollar Spot!!), Heart Punch, Pink Stampendous Glitter, Pop Dots, Scallop Border Punch (SU), Cardboard (I used an empty cereal box; for punching the heart). Finished card size: 5.5"square.

As I have been lately, I'm gonna leave you with a couple of pictures of the kids! In these two pictures, they are making snowballs. They have LOVED having snowball fights this weekend!! :)

Sketch 63 WINNER!!

Happy Monday, everyone!! Thanks to all who joined us on this busy Christmas weekend for the sketch challenge! I enjoyed seeing everyone's creations, and I hope you enjoyed the inspiration!!

Our winner of the Shimmerz prize pack is AMY TSURUTA! Amy, I think I have your address, but send it to me JUST in case! :) Here's Amy's gorgeous card, which I just fell in love with!

Here's a fabulous card created by Crafty Math Chick. I love the buttons EVERYWHERE! :)


And this beautiful card was created by Janice. I love that she took the opportunity to start cranking out some thank you cards!


I should be back shortly with a card to share! Congrats to all who are featured!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you've had a beautiful day full of family, friends, fun, relaxation, and perhaps some reflection! (Oh, and some fun presents, too!) My family was truly blessed today. We started this holiday with a Christmas Eve service at church last night. To me, that ALWAYS is what gets me "feeling" Christmas.

I thought I'd first share one more Christmas gift project with you. I packaged some chamomile tea bags and sweet sticks (candy sticks from Trader Joe's) for gifts to hand out today. I used a brown paper sack and embellished with Basic Grey Jovial paper and a doily. I tied some Cappuccino Twine from The Twinery around the package and stamped a simple sentiment from PTI's Poinsettia stamp set on a tag. Super easy and quick, and still impressive and appreciated!

I thought I'd also share some photos from my family's Christmas day, in case you're interested. :) Sometimes it's fun to get a look inside of a fellow crafter's (and blogging friend's!) everyday "real" life!

This is a cute picture of Cameron and Katy surrounded by presents at Nana and Grandpa's house.

Here is my husband, Drew, relaxing after the gifts had been opened at our house this morning.

And Cameron, playing with his new Kidizoom camera! We both got new cameras for Christmas (my husband got me a really nice new camera....he's the BEST!).

Here is my dad... We were happy to have them join us for Christmas morning! Here is a picture of him holding up his Food Face Plate we got him! Remember these magnetic faces that you can add beards, hair, etc. to? You can add your food to make funny faces on this plate!! :)

Here is a picture of me sitting with my sister-in-law and our second cousin. I was debating sharing any pictures of me! LOL! I feel like a whale, and I'm only 24 weeks pregnant. How am I gonna get BIGGER than this for 16 more weeks?!? ;)

This has been one of my favorite ornaments for years! I bought it at the Southern Christmas Show, and it's a cotton angel made from natural cotton and its husk (husk??).

I love this picture I got of Katy and her grandfather (my dad again, minus the Food Face!). Isn't it sweet? They just look so happy.

Just a little glimpse into our day. :) What were some highlights of your Christmas? Did you receive (or give) any really special gifts? I'd love to hear about it!

OH, and don't forget to make a card for our current sketch challenge, featuring BUTTONS!

SKETCH 63: BUTTONS!!

Ah, today's sketch challenge focuses on one of my personal favorite things to use on a card... BUTTONS!! I just love how they can be rustic or elegant. Cute or stylish. So much fun! And we all have buttons lying around, right? If not, they can easily be made by punching a circle out of cardstock or cardboard. Simply punch a couple of small holes in the center and VOILA!

My card features some soft and muted colors that really pop when you put them together! I really had Spring Moss in my mind for this card, and I paired it with one of the Waiting for Santa & Sweet Season papers from Webster's Pages. The buttons at the top are Cream and Spring Moss. Love the mix of colors. The sentiment is a silver rub on from SU's (retired??) Merry and Bright rub-on set. It's attached onto Vintage Cream cardstock and mounted on black felt. The dies are all PTI. The Soft Pink Rhinestone berries were used because I was out of red, but it seems that they make a nice addition to the softer feel of this card anyway.

THE DETAILS:

**Use the sketch provided and try to incorporate BUTTONS! Get anything crafty for Christmas? Use that in your creation, too! :)
**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC063.
**Post a comment with a link to your card on right here on this post by Sunday, December 26, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.).
**PRIZE ~ a Shimmerz Prize Package! Winner is chosen randomly from all participants.

*joy*

Better late than never, right? ;) This card was actually made using CPS's last sketch, which I just loved! It was so easy to work with. I used a Vintage Cream base and layered on a piece of Fine Linen cardstock, which I stamped in Tea Dye ink with Winter Swirls (PTI). The swirls were highlighted with some Aqua Glue (the fine tip side) and some iridescent glitter. The 'Tis the Season sentiment, stamped in green, is from the same stamp set. The big corrugated flower is from Jillibean Soup. I inked it up with some white ink and added on a green button and some lovely burlap string (we have a remnant roll of purple burlap string left... only $3 for approximately 220 yards!!). Now that gorgeous lace was a gift from my friend Nina in Croatia! I have a bag of that lace that I have been hoarding, but I'm trying to use it! I can spare a little, right? ;)

I want to also share a couple of gift tags I made. The kids and I have been busy making cute simple tags to go on the last few gifts. All of my gifts are wrapped, but some are missing tags!! I am thankful for the time I have had with Cameron and Katy helping me out!

Speaking of C and K, and the fact that it wouldn't be Christmastime around our house without a birthday celebration, here's a picture of the two kids on Katy's birthday Monday. Katy had just opened the Ariel Bath Castle Cameron gave her. :) Cameron was just being goofy with the pink princess candy cane he had attached to her gift.

Please don't forget to come back here tomorrow for a sketch and product challenge! There's a prize to win as always!

Christmas Wreath Tags

Well, hi! I'm finally on Christmas break after my first three weeks of teaching middle schoolers! It's going great and we're having lots of fun. I am, however, tired! I've been spending the majority of my time preparing for school and shipping orders (but please keep placing them!) I do, however, have lots of projects I've created, and I'll be blogging hopefully everyday for a while. I will start with all of my Christmas projects (while we are still on this side of Christmas!), and we'll go from there.

Very quick today... It's my sweet daughter Katy's 3rd birthday, so we are celebrating!! Above is a picture from her birthday party Friday night. Here are some tags I've been creating and using on gifts. I used the PTI set Wreath for All Seasons, some iridescent glitter, and some Cappuccino twine from The Twinery. I am LOVING this twine!!

And here is a simple wrapping for a gift using that tag!

Happy Monday! Remember the reason for this (crazy) season... God loved us enough to send JESUS as a baby as a gift for us. Yep, you are loved. :)

SKETCH 62 WINNER!

Sorry to be a day late on announcing a winner! Monday just got away from me. Actually, the week in general is running away from me! I digress.... I'm sure some of you can relate. ;)

Congrats to Linda, who wins the Ornament Album! Linda, email me your address, and it'll go right out to you! Here's Linda's fabulously adorable card!! :)

And here are a few of my picks for the week....

Sherry Ann:

Savannah:

Piali:

Great job with the sketch, everyone! I hope to be back in a bit... I have made lots of things to share; I just need a little time to sit down and blog them. ;)

DISCOUNTED Suzi Blu Stamp!

Happy Sunday! I have a Suzi Blu Love of My Life stamp that has a damaged (bent up) box. The stamp is curved a little from the bent box, but it is in otherwise perfect stamping condition. I'd like to offer this stamp at a discount, since it isn't in perfect selling condition.

The cost is $7, including shipping!!! Let me know if you'd like for me to send this stamp your way!

On another note, order your Suzi Blu stamps TODAY from Limelight! They are only $8.25 each, and I'll be sending back what we have left tomorrow!!

SKETCH 62: SPARKLE!!

Happy Thursday, everyone! It's time for another Limelight Sketch and Product Challenge! We're focusing on SPARKLING up our cards, and there is a super-duper prize at stake! :)

For my card, I did one of my favorite things. I die cut a shape, in this case my scalloped circle, from a piece of an empty cereal box to make a thin glittered chipboard accent! The dove (hmm...a pattern on sketch days? I suppose so...) is cut from white/cream felt, then glittered as well. The lace was a gift from my sweet friend Nina.

Paper: Vintage Cream cardstock, Jillibean Soup Chopped Tomatoes. Accessories: Red button, Red Glitter, Iridescent Glitter, Felt, Lace Ribbon, Roasted Red Alpha Stickers.

THE DETAILS:

**Use the sketch provided and try to incorporate SPARKLE! Glitter, Shimmerz, Sparkle Fibers, or WHATEVER you'd like!

**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC062.

**Post a comment with a link to your card on right here on this post by Sunday, December 12, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.).

**PRIZE ~ a Kaisercraft Bauble (Ornament) Album! Winner is chosen randomly from all participants.

EBTKS Challenge: Texture!

Good afternoon! I've just gotten back from my first day of teaching middle school. What a great day! The kids are wonderful, and teaching Science is a BLAST! I love being back at CCS!

Today is another great day; Limelight is sponsoring the Everything But the Kitchen Sink's LAST challenge! It's bittersweet, huh? We hate that it's the last, but we're thrilled to be sponsoring! The challenge this week is to create a card, scrapbook page, or altered item that features LOTS of TEXTURE! Here's a picture to get your creative wheels turning...

I actually created two cards using the same materials, since I had everything out. ;) Both cards use Bashful Blue cardstock from SU. I used the Peace Be Still stamp set from PTI for all of the snowflakes and sentiments, which are all white embossed. The felt snowflakes are from the coordinating PTI die. The felt flakes are edged with SU Silver Glass Glitter. The cards are accented with Silver Rhinestones.


The winner for this challenge will receive this prize pack from Webster's Pages, which includes a vellum & die cut kit along with the Whimsy Heart Perfect Pack.

What will YOU create? Post your creation on your blog or in an online gallery, then link it to the EBTKS challenge blog. You have 10 days to complete your card (December 9 at midnight CST). They'll pick the winner by December 12.

Sketch 61 WINNER!

Congratulations to Lauren B, our winner of the Stickles prize pack! Lauren, send me your address, and I'll send 3 bottles of Stickles your way! Scroll down; Lauren's card was a top pick for me this week!

And a side note... This is NOT our last sketch challenge! We'll continue with the challenges until further notice. Join us on December 9 as we tackle a new sketch and work with SPARKLE, glitter, Shimmerz, Rhinestones, Sparkle Fibers, etc.!

As always, here are a few of the fabulous cards created for this week's challenge!

De:


Ann:


Amy:

Lauren:

SKETCH 61: POLKA DOTS!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're all enjoying a fabulous day of family, rest, gratitude, and good FOOD! :) Thanks for tuning in and joining us for the Limelight Papercrafts Sketch #61. We are pulling out the POLKA DOTS for this challenge!

Before I get too far into the sketch, I'd love to thank you for the kind words since I shared that Limelight Papercrafts will be closing its doors. I was really touched by the comments and e-mails I received expressing your concern and emotion over our decision to close. I would like to share a little more detail over the reason behind the decision...mostly so you don't worry! We are closing under good terms and for wonderful reasons. I have been aware that this was coming for a while, but I expected it for next year maybe. I just happened to get an out-of-the-blue job offer from the wonderful Christian school I used to teach at, and I start teaching 6th grade Science on Tuesday! I am so thrilled! This is especially good news because my son starts kindergarten next year, and we now know where he will go to school!! As far as me personally (if you are wondering!), I will be around blogland and Splitcoast (hopefully much more than I have been!)...

The moral of the story??? Now is a GREAT time to shop some deals (and STEALS!) at Limelight Papercrafts. ;) Shameless plug, I know.

All right! On to the sketch!! I had fun making this card. I started with a kraft card base and tied some SU chocolate striped ribbon on vertically. For my rectangle layer, I used some ornament paper from the Basic Grey Jovial paper pad. This is what I chose for my polka dots! The ornaments are arranged in something of a polka dot pattern, which I loved for this card! :) I used an ornament punch and a white matching rub-on on Riding Hood Red cardstock to make my ornament. I punched the corners with a Corner Rounder and created a partial frame with Silver Rhinestones instead of stamping another sentiment. The ornament and Jovial paper are both mounted on Pop-It Circles.

The Details:

**Use the sketch provided and try to incorporate POLKA DOTS! They can be stamped, patterned paper, an embellishment, or WHATEVER you'd like!

**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC061.

**Post a comment with a link to your card on right here on this post by Sunday, November 28, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.).

**PRIZE ~ a Stickles Prize Package!! Just in time for holiday sparkle! Winner is chosen randomly from all participants.
******************
Go ahead and begin the hop to see what the Limelight DT has created...Your 1st stop is JenMarieDon't forget to come back and share with us what YOU create!!

Limelight Papercrafts BIG NEWS

If you are a newsletter subscriber, you'll get your newsletter soon, but I wanted to post some big news here on the blog so that everyone has access now! (I have to send the newsletters out in four separate waves over a four-hour period.)

It is bittersweet that I am announcing to you today that Limelight Papercrafts will be closing. While I have loved every minute of serving our customers, I will be making some personal (and wonderful!) changes in my life that will require this closing. Many of the items in the store are already discounted (anywhere from 20-50% off...and some patterned paper even moreso!), and we will continue to discount products until we sell out. Obviously, the earlier you shop, the better the selection will be! We will keep you posted of the new sales through the newsletter and our blog!

STORE CLOSING SALES (while supplies last):
*Unity Stamps 25% off (Suzi Blu stamps are $8.25 each!)!
*Stampendous stamps all AT LEAST 35% off!
*Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy! Crafting Kit ONLY $10!
*Lawn Fawn stamps all 25% off!
*Odd Bird Planet stamps all 50% off!!
*Stampendous Ice Cream Float Stamp ONLY $1
*Select 12x12 Patterned Paper Sheets $0.10 - $0.50!

SKETCH AND PRODUCT CHALLENGE!
We will continue hosting our Limelight Papercrafts Sketch and Product Challenge until we sell out!! Our next challenge will be posted on the Limelight Papercrafts creative blog on Thursday, November 25 (Thanksgiving!). We are using the sketch provided and focusing on incorporating polka dots, and one lucky winner will receive a Stickles Prize Pack! Just in time for holiday SPARKLE!!

Tiffany's Blog Giveaway

Good morning! I saw a giveaway (a FABULOUS one!) for you to enter, so I thought I'd share it here! Hope to have a card for you later on today! :)

Check out Tiff's giveaway!

Have a great day!

Sketch 60 WINNER!

Congratulations to Scrapcollectr, the winner of the sticker prize package from Limelight! :) Scrapcollectr, send your address to us (mandy@limelightpapercrafts.com), and we'll get that right out your way! Here is her beautiful card she submitted:

And now for a few of my picks for the week! You all made such GORGEOUS cards, so it was tough to narrow it down!

Amy:


Nancy:


Piali:


Artful Delight:


Toni: