First Annual Scrap-Mart Blog Hop - Have fun!

Welcome to the First Annual Scrap-Mart.com Blog Hop! If you are just joining in please go to the Scrap-Mart blog to start from the beginning. There are 31 blogs participating in the hop and you will find some great prizes along the way. You must comment on THAT blog post to be eligible to win that prize. There are also some Grand Prizes posted on the Scrap-Mart blog. You must comment on EVERY blog throughout the hop to be eligible for the Grand Prizes. Comments will remain open until midnight CST on Sunday, December 5th. Winners will be chosen at random for each individual prize and will be announced on the Scrap-Mart blog on Friday, December 10th. You may only win once. We'd like to thank our sponsors for generously donating all the prizes for this hop: Making Memories, Spellbinders, JustRite Stampers, Sizzix, Heartfelt Creations, Lifestyle Crafts, The Stamps of Life, Boss Kut, Unity Stamps, October Afternoon, Copic, Silhouette America.


If you came to my blog from Stephanie Kraft's, you are on the right track!  Good luck!

Scrap-Mart http://scrapmart.squarespace.com/

Sharon Harnist http://www.paperfections.typepad.com/

Boss Kut http://www.bosskutgazelle.blogspot.com/

Gini Cagle http://www.ginicagle.blogspot.com/

Debbie Seyer http://www.debbieseyer.com/

Eva Dobilas http://www.evafromca.blogspot.com/

Debbie Olson http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/muse_and_amuse/

October Afternoon http://octoberafternoon.typepad.com/

Maren Benedict http://www.zanynotcrazy.com/

Terre Fry http://terresscraptherapy.blogspot.com/

Lisa Somerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/

Jenn Lynn http://www.jennsscrapbooknook.com/

Sizzix http://www.sizzixblog.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Barnard http://www.stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/

Mindy Miller http://www.mysecretheart.typepad.com/

Karen Maldanado http://reallifeinpictures.blogspot.com/

Anita Hovey http://www.hoveyhut.blogspot.com/

Bev Gerard http://savorthejourney.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Stephanie Kraft http://handkraftedbystephanie.blogspot.com/

Clare Curcio: http://www.queenteacuppapertreasures.blogspot.com/  You are here!

Laurel Seabrook: http://www.want2scrap.blogspot.com/
Kristina http://www.reflectionsofahappycrafter.blogspot.com/

Olga Jewell http://www.craftieodamae.blogspot.com/

Katie Piotrowski http://www.katiepiotrowski.blogspot.com/

Angela Barkhouse http://www.snippetsofpaper.blogspot.com/

Dee Jackson http://www.stampincuziluv2.typepad.com/stampincuziluv2/page/2/

Angelica Turner http://bellisimavida.blogspot.com/

Karen Walker http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com/

Rosemary Dennis http://heythererosigrl.blogspot.com/

Sihouette http://silhouettemachine.blogspot.com/

Christmas Poinsettia

Merry Christmas!  It isn't even December yet, but I'm in the spirit!  I have had so much fun making some Christmas cards using new stamps and diecuts from Heartfelt Creations.  One of which is their Poinsettia leaves.  I had to make many leaves of five different sizes to create this card, but I'm not complaining!  lol  Making 3-D cards has always fascinated me, and I love the look, so that is what I wanted to achieve on this card. 

To achieve the vintage look, I "aged" the papers I used by making them a brownish color.  I even found some of my grandmother's old lace to put on the card.  The center is made of seed beads from my jewelry-making stash.

Ornament Gatefold Card for Collaborative Christmas Book

 One of the Heartfelt Creations designers suggested that all each of the design team members make a page that would fit into a 5" X 5" scrapbook album.  This collaborative book would be given to the owners of HC to wish them a Merry Christmas, and as a Christmas gift to them.  We are all blessed by Emma Lou and Linda - they have been overly generous and kind to all of us!  This is my page, and when I have photos of the entire book, I will post it so you can see what a wonderful piece of art it is!  We have some very talented people on this team!



The gatefold card is one which opens up.  I love making
vintage or old-looking cards.



First Frost, First Snow



 This card portrays a first frost in the high country.  From the leaves changing, to the dry grass, everything is covered with a layer of sparkle and cold.  Now the leaves will finish changing into their fall attire.

This card is representing a first snowfall.  I'm from Denver, Colorado, originally, and west of there on I-70 was a water wheel alongside the highway.  When driving through that area when it was snowing, it was so beautiful.  They stopped the waterwheel in the winter, but every spring, when the warm temperatures melted the snowcaps and the water came rushing down the mountainsides, it was started up again, and circled faster than it had before.

These are Heartfelt Creations Scenery stamps and Window/Frame diecut.

Holy Night



This is one of my favorite cards!  I wish my pictures did the cards justice.  It is embossed in shiny gold and has a layer of mirrored gold cardstock behind the green panel.   I love olive green and burgundy together.

  Hello, again!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I spent mine with family and friends, and had a wonderful meal.  Why do we always eat so much?

Christmas is nearly here!

I know we say it every year, but every year it seems to arrive and then go more quickly than the last!  It seems like it was just last Christmas, and this Christmas is here!  Our lives are truly shorter than we realize! 

I have had the pleasure of making cards with some beautiful Heartfelt Creations stamps. They're really helping me get into the Thanksgiving and Christmas spirit!

This is from the Snowflake Medley PreCut

  

The stamp used under the cut-out snowflake is the same as above - from the Snowflake Medley PreCut Set.  The snowflake was cut with a die from Spellbinders 2010 Snowflake Pendants.



This stamp is called Lg. Cardinal Pine Bough. 

I am really looking forward to this Christmas!  Grant will be 16 months old, and he's so much fun!  He's the best little boy a grandma could have!

What a mess! 

I'm Starting to Feel Christmas-sy!

Hello, All!  I've been working with a lot of Christmas stamps, and it's putting me in "that mood"!  Not only have I been working with cardinals, but they are abundant here in Tennessee, so I can look out and see some!  I was looking at some Christmas cards that were at the store, with cardinals on them.  They were very nice, and then a thought popped into my head!  There were two totally red cardinals sitting side-by-side on a tree branch, looking very cozy.  Females are brown and red, so these must have been friends sitting on the branch, both males!  Now everytime I see a card, calendar, or whatever it is with cardinals on them, I notice how many are printed with two males, not a male and female!

 

I'd like to share some recent cards I've made for Heartfelt Creations and other cards that are generic.  With my travelling husband gone a lot, I spend many an hour in my craft room creating.  I love this time of year!  This morning I've been watching the leaves float down off the trees like and orange and yellow snow fall.  I wish it would snow.  Anyway, I'd appreciate any comments you'd like to make!  Thanks for visiting once again! 

This is called First Snow.

Happy Belated Birthday, Lorraine!

I missed Lorraine's birthday, so made her a birthday card while she was visiting us.  Sorry about that, Lorraine!  The image is from Justrite Stamps, and the cardstock is from DCWV's Linen Closet stack.  This is a great and versatile paper stack to create from!

Country Cardinal Christmas

I just absolutely love cardinals, don't you?  They are such beautiful birds, and are surprisingly cousins to the blue jay, and both are members of the crow family.  I have learned several things new when I "googled" them for colorings or info.

My sewing machine is coming in handy for stitching on cards, and the effect is awesome.  Some are better than others, but...

I collected some pinecones while on vacation on the coast of Virginia in September, and learned by "googling" them that the projections all around the surface of a pinecone are called "wings".  No joke!  When I saw a card somewhere with a 3-D paper pinecone on it, I took it as a challenge to figure out how it was made.  This is my second try at, and I'm pretty proud of the way it came out!  I can't thank God enough for giving me the gift of creativity!  All credit and glory belong to Him!

A Pocketful of Daisies

 Have you ever had a pair of those jeans with the studs or embroidery on the pockets?  I used to have the ones with embroidery.  Well, this pocket has both!  I love this stamp, and the pocket is a stamp also!  This was soooooooooo much fun to make!  The photos don't do the "real thing" justice.

I stitched a little on the sewing machine, and hand-embroidered some too!  Tied some knots, and used a little glue!  Hey, that rhymes!  hehehe

I found some "denim" paper in my stash, and it just made my day!  I mean, pocket!

This is a closeup of the stitching on the pocket.

                                             
I made this little card into a surprise "pop-up" card.  When opened, the flowers "in" the pocket pop up and out.  Thanks Heartfelt Creations for the very cute stamps!

Oh, Holy Night

This stamp from Heartfelt Creations just put me in awe when it was embossed in gold, and colored with pencils that have silver in them.   I added just a touch of gold to just about everything.  I'd love to get this card in the mail, if I hadn't made it!  hehehe

The light is shining off of the goldboard I used as a mat.  I am so fortunate to have been chosen as a design team member for Heartfelt Creations!  They have blessed me in so many ways!  Thank you for making such beautiful stamps, HC, Linda
and Emma Lou!

Wintery Cardinal

I love cardinals, don't you?  They are the most colorful birds around these parts, except for the tropical varieties in other countries.  The Cardinal and the Blue Jay are relatives to the Crow.  They sure don't look like crows.  I guess the Blue Jay and the Cardinal are about the only birds that don't migrate south for the winter.

I wonder who chose the cardinal for a Christmas bird.

Joy to the World

I really like the stamps I've been using to create new cards for Heartfelt Creations!  The background writing and the sentiment with music lines are stamps, and so versatile!  I found some fabric at a store that had gold music on it, and had "Joy" written all over on it in gold!  Perfect accompaniment to what I was using. 

I really like the way my musical notes came out.  They remind me of what they would look like if an angel was whistling them.  All gold and flowing...(I know, I have an imagination!)   hehehehe