CAS Christmas -Blue & Silver

Hello again!

It's a busy posting day today.

The holidays are over.  The decorations are down.  Leftovers are gone as are guests.  Kids maybe back to school.  

Just 355 Days until next Christmas!

So why not start your next Christmas stash now?

Play along with us at 

CAS Christmas.

Our hostess this month is Christine.

The Challenge 

is

Blue and Silver.

I made a lot of cards over the past year and the Hubs sold about 2/3 of them, which left me in a deficit for my own sending.  So this year, my goal is to double my stash number from last year.  I had about 75 cards in my stash at the beginning of December 2018.  Ok, 150 is a little daunting but we shall see how I do!

For my card, I used a new die from Poppy Stamps.  The background was made using a stars coverplate die cut out of white cardstock and used as a stencil and sponging light blue ink.  The cardbase is a silver cardstock.  

Stop by the CAS Christmas blog and check out all the rest of the Design Team's CAS projects, as well as our Guest Designer, Kaja of Kajcyika crafts.  Then, come play along and get a very early head start on Christmas cards for next year!  Follow the Challenge prompt and make sure it's CAS (clean and simple).

Card Supplies:

STAMPS: None.

PAPER: Solar White Neenah cardstock; Silver foil cardstock; Silver mirror cardstock.

INK: It's a Boy (Catherine Pooler Inks).

EXTRAS: Jerusalem die (Poppy Stamps); Stencil made from Star cover plate by Hero Arts; Noel die (Stampin' Up).

CAS Christmas Blessings!

Krafty Chicks #436 Tree

HappyThursday!

We have some exciting news!

4 Crafty Chicks is now 

Krafty Chicks!

We've done a makeover of sorts.  Our permanent Guest Designer is now just another "chick"!  So we changed our name and made a few minor adjustments.  Overall we're still the same but with five us now, we figured a new name was in order.

So on to this week's challenge ----

Leanne, one of our wonderful leaders is our hostess this week and she's wanting us to hob knob a bit with mother nature for our twist.

Krafty Chicks #436 - Tree

I'm trying to begin the new year out in a more proactive, mindful way.  One of those ways is to use up as many backgrounds already created by me, scraps, spare dies, AND all my NBUS (never before used stamps/dies) that need some love.  I did so with this card.  I had this beautiful background piece I made with alcohol inks.  I used a die from the May 2018 Kit by Hero arts that is all about trees and swings.  I used the inner oval die of the kit and then took some of the other tree branch stamps, stamped in Versamark onto some of the background scraps, clear embossed and fussy cut them to add a little more depth and interest to my tree.  I thought it would be fun to use one of the new fairy dies I just received from Poppy Stamps and place her on the swing.  I mean fairies love a good tree swing too!

Go hop over to the Hen House and check out all my Krafty Chicks teammates' projects for more inspiration for our "Tree twist".  Then, get cracking on your new year of crafting and come play along with us!

Krafty Chick Blessings!

4 Crafty Chicks #435 - Sparkle & Shine

Happy Thursday!

It's time for a ncw challenge at

4 Crafty Chicks.

Lori is our hostess this week!

4 Crafty Chicks # 435 Sparkle & Shine

Well, Christmas has come and gone once again.

However, I still have cards to share (as well as some to still finish).  

I tried my hand at foiling with Deco Foil and a laminator this season.  I thought one was perfect for this challenge as I foiled the background and it's super sparkly!  I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and embossed with silver emboss powder for even more shine.  It is hard to photograph, however, to show all the glitz and shine.

Now stop by the Hen House and check out all my fellow Chicks' sparkly projects!  Then link up your own sparkly or shiny project and play along with us! 

Crafty Chick Blessings! 

4 Crafty Chicks #434 Bear Twist

Hello Thursday!

4 Crafty Chicks has a new challenge starting today.

Amy is our hostess with the mostest too!  

She is looking for Bears as the Twist.

4 CC #434 Bears

It's less than a week until Christmas, can you believe it? I'm almost ready.  I'm still whipping up some cards as my Christmas stash pretty much got sold to my hubby's colleagues.  It was good to have some extra cash, but then, it left my own personal Christmas card stash in a slight deficit.  I'm also doing some New Year's cards to make up for the lateness of Christmas cards.  However, FYI, technically, Christmas lasts through January 6th, Epiphany, so I still have time. <wink wink> Hahaha 

So I created a New Years card with my bear...

Be sure and stop by the Hen House and check out the rest of the Chicks' projects.  They are un"bearably" cute! Then come play along with us with our Bear twist or even in our always Anything Goes challenge.  

Card Supplies

Stamps: Bear-Party Pandas (Stampin'Up); Numbers - Milestone Birthday Numbers (Catherine Pooler Designs); Banner-Birthday Icons (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Paper: White cardbase- Solar White (Neenah); Silver metallic cardstock (Bazzill); Patterned paper-Snowy Day (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Ink: Versamark; Zig Real Brush Water Pens; Midnight (Catherine Pooler Ink).

Extras: Tag Die -Good Stuff (Catherine Pooler Designs); Number dies - coordinate with number stamps (Catherine Pooler Designs); Banner coordinating die (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Crafty Chick Blessings!

Paper Sweeties 25 Days of Christmas 2018

Happy Tuesday!

Well there's nothing like being all ready and then discovering you didn't hit the "publish" button! :/

So I'm a little late posting my second day.

Today is my 2nd day to share a project for Paper Sweeties 25 Days of Christmas!

This month the Paper Sweeties Design Team and Special Guests are sharing holiday inspirational projects every day through Christmas Day.  Each day features a different designer or guest.  So be sure and go to the Paper Sweeties Blog each day to check out the newest projects from another designer.  

There is also a new stamp/die set this month that we are featuring as well ---- 

Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Christmas Y'all Sweet Cuts

This time I went a little more elegant, creating a silver and gold card using that cute little tree from this month's new set (above).

    Here is the daily list in case you have missed seeing some other designers from the first ten days. 

December 1st - Planner Team Posts

December 2nd - Debbie

December 3rd - Lilian

December 4th - Amy Tsuruta

December 5th -Lisa Bzibziak

December 6th - Michelle Bala

December 7th -Mackie

December 8th - Karen

December 9th -Maria

December 10th - Lisa G.

December 11th - Nancy (You are HERE!)

December 12th -Mackie

December 13th - Jinny

December 14th -Larissa

December 15th - Kathy Schweinfurth

December 16th - Taylor

December 17th -Maria

December 18th -Nancy (Me Again!)

December 19th - Jinny

December 20th - Lisa G.

December 21st -Larissa

December 22nd - Debbie

December 23rd - Karen

December 24th -Lisa Bzibziak

December 25th - Debbie

Be sure and stop by the Paper Sweeties Blog all this week and through Christmas Day to see more projects by the Team and Guests!

I also have a bit of sad news for my post.  This is my last post as a designer for Paper Sweeties.  At the end of December I will be stepping down from the team.  It was a hard decision to make, but I felt like it was time for me to go. I have loved being a part of Debbie's team and am so grateful to her for giving me the opportunity over the past four years.  I will miss everyone on the team but I will be around and plan to visit! 

Paper Sweeties Blessings!

4 Crafty Chicks #433 - Masculine Greetings

Good Morning Thursday!

Ok, it's just 12 days until Christmas!

Who is tired of Christmas cards?  LOL

4 Crafty Chicks #433 Masculine Greetings!

I'm the hostess this week at 4 Crafty Chicks 

and

I want to see some manly projects as the twist.

If you're like me, you don't make nearly enough masculine cards to have for all the men in your life.  And, coming from a home full of testosterone, I could surely have more in my stash!

I actually made a birthday card for my older brother and am three weeks ahead of his birthday for once! His birthday is Jan. 5th and growing up he sometimes felt like it was a Christmas leftover, particularly if it snowed and hindered a party.  One year that happened and I think he all he got were drumsticks and a cake. Bummer.  So I try to get his gift in the mail before New Year's.

This card actually took a different direction from my original plans, which was to include plaid with the coke bottle.  Then, I spied this panel of grunge stamped background and coupled with the coke bottle I ditched the plaid.  I really love how it turned out!  

Don't forget to stop by the Hen House and see the rest of the Chicks' projects.  Lots of great inspiration and festive cards! Then come play along with us and give the masculine twist a try.  The challenge is open until Wednesday, December 19th at Noon Mountain Time.

Card Supplies:
Stamps: Grunge background (Catherine Pooler Designs); Sentiment - Fill In The Blanks (Catherine Pooler Designs); Bottle top sentiment (Inkadinkadoo); Coke bottle sentiment (My Favorite Things).
Paper: White cardstock (Neenah Solar White 110lb); Chocolate (Catherine Pooler Designs); Samba inked white cardstock.
Ink: Versamark; Icing On The Cake, Over Coffee, Samba (Catherine Pooler Inks).
Extras: WOW White Emboss powder; Silver Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up); Coke Bottle Die-Soda Pop (My Favorite Things); Postage Stamp Die (Catherine Pooler SOA); Stitched Rectangle die (Lil' Inker Designs); Label die - Good Stuff Inside (Catherine Pooler); small circle die (Catherine Pooler).

For Following Challenges:

Crafty Chick Blessings!

Paper Sweeties 25 Days of Christmas 2018

Happy Tuesday!

This month the Paper Sweeties Design Team and Special Guests are sharing holiday inspirational projects every day through Christmas Day.  Each day features a different designer or guest.  So be sure and go to the Paper Sweeties Blog each day to check out the newest projects from another designer.  

There is also a new stamp/die set this month that we are featuring as well ---- 

Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Christmas Y'all Sweet Cuts

Today is one of my two days I will be sharing projects using the new stamp/die set as well as some of the other Paper Sweeties holiday stamps/dies.

For my project today I used the new stamp/die set. That truck is just the cutest and of course I had to make mine Carolina Blue!  I also used the gifts from Merry Little Christmas and the heart from Sugar and Spice.

Here is the daily list in case you have missed seeing some other designers from the first ten days. 

December 1st - Planner Team Posts

December 2nd - Debbie

December 3rd - Lilian

December 4th - Amy Tsuruta

December 5th -Lisa Bzibziak

December 6th - Michelle Bala

December 7th -Mackie

December 8th - Karen

December 9th -Maria

December 10th - Lisa G.

December 11th - Nancy (You are HERE!)

December 12th -Mackie

December 13th - Jinny

December 14th -Larissa

December 15th - Kathy Schweinfurth

December 16th - Taylor

December 17th -Maria

December 18th -Nancy (Me Again!)

December 19th - Jinny

December 20th - Lisa G.

December 21st -Larissa

December 22nd - Debbie

December 23rd - Karen

December 24th -Lisa Bzibziak

December 25th - Debbie

Paper Sweeties Blessings!

4 Crafty Chicks #432 - Ribbons/Bows Twist

Happy Thursday!

Wow, it's Thursday again already!

It's time for another challenge 

at

4 Crafty Chicks!

Leanne is our hostess

and 

she wants Ribbons and/or Bows!

4 Crafty Chicks #432 Ribbons/Bows Twist

It's been hectic this week, in the Salkeld house. Not much holiday stuff yet.  I still have my fall decor up. We've just had lots of regular stuff ---appointments, leaf blowing (3rd round and can't see the driveway or yard again). It could be worse, could be snow, (maybe this weekend).  I do have most of my shopping done at least.

I am also trying to get my Christmas cards finished and in the mail, along with several birthday cards.  In doing so, I found a small box of Christmas die cuts, much to my surprise and so I took the time to sort them to save me time later.  I could probably knock out about 50 cards very easily just with all those dies.  LOL

I did use some of them for this card ---

The oval panel is a scrap left over from die cutting an oval for another project.  The teal background is alcohol ink on photo paper I had in my background paper stash.  I love red and tea together so I paired it with a shimmery stitched bow.

Stop over at the Hen House and check out the rest of the Chicks' projects.  Then come join us and play along with our Ribbons/Bows twist or in our always "anything goes".

Crafty Chick Blessings!

Star @Jesus - CAS Christmas

Happy Monday!

It's time for a new challenge at CAS Christmas!

It's also now just 22 Days until Christmas!  Can you believe it?  

Trina is our hostess this month

and

her theme is

Stars.

I've been playing around with foiling lately and was trying to use up some foil scraps and thought this challenge would fit well by using a star die and inlay the foil.  I wound up making two cards.

I've had the @Jesus die for a while and it hasn't seen a lot of love and of course Christmas is the perfect time to use it.  

I used a star die from Stampin' Up Star of Light set.  I cut a smaller panel of cardstock and adhered the foil to it and glued it to the back of the front panel.  The top card has blue foil and the bottom one I used the negative with a design from another project where I embossed a background and then foiled it.  I thought the negative gave an interesting effect for the star.

For each card, I cut a the @Jesus die from silver foil cardstock once and three times from white cardstock and glued them all together so it would stand out more against the star.

The card base has a slash stitched rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs. For finishing touches I added some blue sequin stars to the blue card and silver dimensional stars to the purple one.

Please stop by the CAS Christmas Blog and check out the rest of the team's projects, including our Guest Designer, Cindy!  If you don't have your Christmas cards done, why not play along with us for the next two weeks and knock out some Clean and Simple cards to send!  The challenge will end on December 15th this month so the team can enjoy the Christmas season.  

CAS Christmas Blessings!

4 Crafty Chicks #431 - Crazy Egg/ATG

Happy Thursday!

It's also the 5th Thursday of the month!

That means an extra challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks ---- and not just any challenge ----

The Crazy Egg Challenge!

It's hosted by Tangii!

4CC #431 Crazy Egg Anything Goes

This was a double duty card, for Crazy Egg and a card swap at Stamp Nation. I love how it turned out.  I used the Layered Landscape stamp set by Neat & Tangled and the balloons are from Love Is In The Air stamp set by Catherine Pooler.  I used Catherine Pooler inks and embossed the sentiment with white WOW embossing powder.

Stop by the Hen House and check out the other Chicks' projects, all very cool and very different for this Crazy Egg challenge.  Leave them some blog love and then come play along with us as it's all Anything Goes this week!

Crafty Chick Blessings!

Special Thank You

Good Afternoon, again!

I have another post today.

It's a special post of thank you cards I made to thank those who donated to my PKD Walk and a friend's walk this fall.  If you're new to my blog, you'll notice on my sidebar a photo advertising the walk.  You can click on the link above also to learn more about PKD.

Short synopsis, I was diagnosed 22 years ago with ADPKD, adult onset polycystic kidney disease, which is an incurable disease that about 600,000 adult Americans have.  There is also a children's version, ARPKD, which children are born with.  PKD commonly is hereditary, meaning if a parent has it, their children have a 50% chance of developing it in adulthood. Some, however, don't have a family history and contract it by having a mutated gene for the disease. 

PKD is the growth of multiple cysts on the kidney that grow, enlarging the kidney and progressively affecting kidney function to the point of needing dialysis and a kidney transplant and then sometimes also resulting in death. Many, especially women, also have polycystic liver disease as well.  I have more PLD than PKD.  I'm very lucky as my disease has not progressed and I may never need dialysis.  My two now adult sons, however, both have a 50% chance of developing the disease sometime in the next 30 years.  That is why I fundraise -- to help fund research for a cure.  There is now some treatment that can slow the growth of cysts, but there is still no cure.

Anyway, I made a bunch of thank you cards for donors of my walk and of my friend, Jody's walk in Arizona.  Jody and I met off the PKD Facebook page a couple years ago.  I donate thank you cards to her, as part of my contribution to her walk.  

This year the Hubs and I went to Charlotte and walked with the Charlotte PKD Chapter.  We met some very nice people, all affected with PKD, either as the one with PKD or as a family member or friend.  

So I'm sharing some of the cards today...

I used a leaf stencil by Altenew and sponged an array of colors to coincide with the PKD logo (see image at top of post).  However, I wound up using a dark blue where they have a more dark teal color.  I adhered the stenciled panel to a cardbase that I inked the edges with Fiesta Blue.  The blue strip under the sentiment is also a Fiesta Blue inked panel.  I white embossed the sentiment

Card Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment- Note of Thanks (Catherine Pooler).
Paper: White cardstock -Neenah Solar white 110 lb.
Ink: Sweet Sixteen, Royal Treatment, Juniper Mist Fiesta Blue, Garden Party.
Extras: Leaf Burst stencil (Altenew); Label Die (Taylored Expressions).

Thank You Blessings!

CAS Christmas - Santa Reminder

Happy Saturday!

It's halfway through November.

That means it's time for a mid-month reminder

for 

CAS Christmas Challenge!

Christine is our hostess this month

and 

she is looking for Santa on our cards.

Be sure and stop by the main challenge blog at CAS Christmas and check out the rest of the team's beautiful cards!

CAS Christmas Blessings!

Paper Sweeties November 2018 Release Rewind

Happy Friday!

Today is Rewind Day at Paper Sweeties.

One more day of projects showcasing the new stamp sets:

Merry

Planner Series: Everyday Basics

I made some tags/ornaments for today.  I bought these wooden chalkboard tags from Michaels a while back.  I also pulled out some leftover felt images cut from various Paper Sweeties dies.  I love how these turned out. 

Hop through the list below and check out the rest of the Design Team's projects:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jinny Newlin
Karen Letchworth

Larissa Heskett
Lisa Bzibziak
Lisa Golzbein 
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Nancy Salkeld (You are HERE!)

Paper Sweeties Blessings!