Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's a unique occurrence when it snows in south Texas. We're expecting from 1-3 inches of the white stuff today, and we are all excited. Houston is getting a nice snowfall as I write this, but here in Conroe it's barely coming down. Since I'll be indoors all day, I decided to die cut some Sizzix lattice shapes and make my own snowflakes. Here is a little snowflake ornament I just finished. It's made up of two of the Lattice Sizzix shapes. I stamped a snowflake sentiment from Just Rite Stamps on a 1-3/4" punched circle and added it to the center. I do take a look outside every once in a while hoping to see more snow falling. Until I do, I'll keep die cutting. Yeah...it finally started snowing heavy in Conroe around 2:30. What a beautiful thing to see.

Punch Happy at Crazy 4 Challenges

This past Saturday, the challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges was to make a card using at least one punch. I made the card below using die cut shapes and punches for a unique Christmas card.


I started with a 5-1/2" square white card. I added a 5" blue square layer (backed with red). I die cut two white Stampin' Up! Sizzix Lattice shapes and positioned them together to make a round 8-point snowflake. I glued the snowflake to the center of the card. Next, I die cut a 4" round Sizzix shape and punched it all around using an EK Success Corner Adorner (Graceful Heart) punch. The technique for making this shape can be found HERE. I added the red heart punched circle to the snowflake using pop dots for a raised effect. I then stamped the Christmas sentiment with my Just Rite Stamps and punched it out. I punched a slightly larger circle in red to back the sentiment. I adhered the sentiment using pop dots also. I used the punched out pieces from the heart circle to add to the corners of the card.

Harvest Apples

Today I wanted to participate in two challenges. Crazy for Challenges has a great layout sketch and Just Us Girls has a color challenge that I wanted to try.




Using the Crazy for Challenges shetch and the Just Us Girls colors as inspiration, I started with a rust colored A-2 tent card. I didn't have the exact colors they used, so used what I had. I cut a rectangle out of orange and a square out of light blue. I backed the orange and blue pieces with black to make them stand out. For the main image I decided to use my PSX Basket of Apples. The red apples really pop, don't they? I think this combination of colors is great.

Oakmont Craft Class

Yesterday I had my first craft class with the ladies of Oakmont Nursing and Rehab Center. We made quick and easy Thanksgiving cards, treat holders and punched Christmas ornaments. One little lady even commented, "This is neat!", so I know she enjoyed it. The activities director asked me to do another class next month, so I'm thrilled. December is always a festive month at the center, so I need to come up with something special. I really wish they could manage rubber stamping, but I know it would be difficult, so we will stick to paper piecing.

On Dasher, On Dancer

A few days ago, I got a surprise visit from my neighbor who lives two houses down. She's a scrapbooker and she brought me a bag full of Christmas rubber stamps, some pigment pads, and three card kits. The only request she had is that I make her a card using a cute Christmas stamp. I used the idea from this week's challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges. The challenge is to use at least three different geometric shapes on a card. Below is the card with the image from American Art Stamp company. This pretty much expresses the reality of Christmas buying, now doesn't it?

A Friendly 'Boo'

This card came out so cute...and it's so simple to make. I die cut the ghost using my Sizzix die. I cut a second ghost out of black and layered it behind the white one with some black showing at the left (for a shadow effect). I computer-generated a sentiment on a white card and attached the ghost using pop dots. I used a corner punch at the right top and left bottom corner of the white card. I then attached it to a black layer. The finished layer was attached to an orange tent card. The final step was to put an orange bow at the bottom.

Top Note Frankenstein Cards

Today I'm making Halloween cards for the Oakmont residents. I would like to thank whoever came up with the idea for this cute Frankenstein card. They are quick and easy to make using a Top Note die-cut, circle punches and a black marking pen. Now I'm off to make a few more Halloween cards using my Sizzix Ghosts.

Nurse Anthony

The elementary school my granddaughters go to has a wonderful school nurse. She has been with the district for a while and the children love her. My granddaughters wanted to do something special for Nurse Anthony, so I made a special card for her using my Nurse Anya stamp. We'll be including a little gift card inside to show our appreciation for all she does.


A new challenge blog called Just Us Girls gave me the idea to paper piece the image. This week's challenge is to make a card using paper piecing and also use the color pink, so I did both. This nurse image is perfect for paper piecing. It has rich black lines in the image and cuts well. I did paper piecing on every part of the image except for the feet and cap. The head, hair, arms and legs are pieced using a tan card stock. I used a decorative rose print paper for the dress and the outer oval shape layer. The sentiment was computer-generated.

Nurse Anya

I found another sketch challenge blog that I really like. It's called Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. Below is the card I made for this week's challenge.


I recently purchased this adorable Nurse Anya stamp so wanted to use her for this card. I stamped two images, so that I could layer Anya using pop dots. If you look at the close-up photo you can see the raised effect. I even added another cut image of her nurse's cap to give it more of a 3-D effect.



If you would like to see more cute images like Nurse Anya, you can see them here...The Greeting Farm.

Crazy 4 Challenges - Sketch 4

I really like this week's sketch at Crazy 4 Challenges. I'm in an Autumn mood, so made the card below in honor of this wonderful season.


I started with a 5" x 6-1/2" light tan base card. The first layer is a piece of dark orange card stock that is Cuttlebug-embossed. Before embossing I printed Happy Autumn on the card stock with my computer and printer. The strip layer is a redish-brown card stock backed with black. I added a glitter leaf brad to the left side of the strip before adhering it to the card. The last layer is a 3" square with Inkadinkado Pumpkins stamped in a fire brick red. I stamped a second image on light orange card stock and cut out just the pumpkins. I added pop dots to the cut-out pumpkins and layered it over the first image for a raised effect. I backed the orange square with a black square that is punched at two corners with an EK Success corner slot punch. I really, really like this card.