Deck the Halls *SFYTT*

Happy Saturday, everyone! A lot has happened since last Saturday. I narrowed down a date for a baby shower, got the invitations put together, passed them out and had the baby shower at my house on Thursday! Can you say "impromtu"? LOL! I was so glad that it all worked out, though. The baby shower was for the sweet gal that I made this for. The adoption went through and she brought her precious bundle home on the train on Thanksgiving! She is just the cutest thing ever! I am so thrilled for her.
Needless to say, there hasn't been any stamping going on here! It was good to sit down and get another Christmas card made. If you don't remember, we are changing things up this month. We are to choose a sketch from the past and make something new. I chose a relatively newer sketch, which is one that I absolutely loved the first time around. You can check out my orginal card here. I thought it was kindof funny that both cards used Graphic 45 paper, both cards used Papertrey Ink dies and stamp sets

I used the ric rac border die and some true black felt to create the border at the top. I used the Stocking Prints stamp set and coordinating die for the focal images. It is nice to have one more card to add to the stash. In addition to the craziness of this week, I get to feed all of the Luncefords on Sunday! Wish me luck!

You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Jodi Collins P.S. This will be the last SFYTT for the year and coming up in January, there will be some changes so stay tuned! Happy Holidays and Thanks for fluttering by!

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A spot of Christmas Tea *SFYTT*

Things look a little different around here, huh? That's because they are! This week and next are the only weeks that we will be doing a SFYTT in December. We will be back in January with some fun changes! This week we all got to choose one of our faves from sketches past!

This morning, or should I say afternoon, has already been CRAZY!!!! We had our annual Christmas breakfast at church, which my husband signed me up to make some type of breakfast potatoes. I had decided to opt out this year since I had the baby and getting us anywhere at 9 a.m. is a struggle! Oh well...I am glad I helped out, especially since we were right on time! Afterwards, he insisted that we all head to the mall and get some Christmas shopping done. He is really into getting the lists checked off!!!! I am too, but I really wanted to get home and work on my card. I had put it off and then I got a call yesterday to see if I could take dinner in to a family from our church. Sure....why not? My family got fed better than they would have had I not been called. Needless to say, I am behind on my card making, but not on my Christmas shopping! LOL!
For this week's SFYTT, we were to use an old sketch and make something new! I thought that was a great idea. I randomly picked one, because they are all good! I knew that I could sit and decide for hours,and I didn't have hours. I knew that I wanted to make a Christmas card, but none of my Christmas sets were inspiring me. I was drawn to my beloved "Tea for Two" from PTI, so I decided to make a Christmas tea card. I used some old Basic Grey paper as well as the coordinating buttons. I liked how it turned out! If you would like to see my card from when the sketch was new, you can see it here.

Even though I own the coordinating die for the tea pot, I am strangely addicted to cutting the darn thing out. Call me crazy! I added a snowflake punch and button to the pot for some added interest. The rest is very straightforward. You won't want to miss the other designers and especially to see what sketches they picked! Isn't this fun?
You won't want to miss the other designers!
Jen Del Muro and Stephanie
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Jodi Collins

Postcards from Target....hmmmmm

If you are ever lacking inspiration, a trip to Target will never fail to deliver. I headed out this afternoon to get some much needed Christmas shopping done. As I wandered up and down aisles, I came across a fun little display of "rustic" type Christmas decor. As much as I wanted to pick up one of each item to come home with me, I decided instead to use the inspiration for a card. The funny thing about this "rustic" decor (as they called it), was that it was more "Modern Rustic" than anything else.

The color scheme was taken directly from the display; the details were my own twist. I used "Everyday Treats" from PTI, including the coordinating die for the mat for the focal image. The postcard sentiment and reindeer are from "Winter Post" by SU! Of course a little twine, gingham ribbon and a jingle bell were in order.

The leaf punch in from Martha Stewart and is the perfect tool for making little wreaths. Over the years, this has been one of my favorite things to do on holiday cards. I love using flower punches for spring and summer wreaths as well. The glitter is also from Martha Stewart and I only used a bit here and there for a bit of added shine. I will be back on Saturday for a fun version of Jen's SFYTT!!!! Thanks for fluttering by!

A smile is the key....

....that fits the lock of everyone's heart!

I have really been trying to stay on top of my card making needs and actually use the cards that I make. I needed a little "thinking of you" card for one of my friends so I sat down to get one done. After it was all said and done, it really would have made a cute Christmas card had I just switched out the focal image and sentiment. The paper is from Scenic Route and is a couple of years old, but it is still some of my favorite! I am so proud of myself...I have been using up so much paper from my stash and I rarely even visit any scrapbook stores! I can't even imagine how long it would actually take me to "run out", though.

All of the stamps that I used on this card are from Papertrey Ink. They include: Everyday Treats, Heart Prints and Heart Prints Sentiments. I used the coordinating die with Everyday Treats and the coordinating punch with the heart. Can I tell you how much I love punches and dies? It is so fast and easy to get layers and details without taking up so much time and effort! I also added some ribbon from May Arts and some baker's twine which is also from PTI.

After I tied the ribbon, I thought it seemed a bit naked, so I added a tiny key to give it a little something extra. It also fits in nicely with the sentiment. Another thing that I love doing with the heart image is to add a button which has been threaded with an X....like cross my heart! I know, I know....I am a goof!

Like I mentioned before, this card looks like it could be a Christmas card, I may just have to work these papers into a Christmas design! Thanks for fluttering by!

Merry and Bright *SFYTT*

It's official...my first Christmas card of the season! I hope everyone had a beautiful and happy Thanksgiving! I love this time of year...lots of family and friends, happiness and fun! Speaking of family, my Mom gave me "Greeting Card Kids" from SU! for my birthday and this is the first time I have used it on a card. I stamped the sweet little school kids, colored them and then never finished anything with them. The next image to use was the Halloween girl, which by the way is adorable, and I was too busy! No excuses now....I inked her up right away and colored her with copic markers. She looks so cute in her vintage finery pulling her tiny tree. The sentiment is from "To you and yours" and is also from SU! All of the sentiments from that set are some of my favorites.

The circle was cut and embossed using Nestabilities and my cuttlebug. I gave it a vintage touch by sponging the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink by Ranger. Of course it wouldn't be complete without a sprinkling of tinsel glitter as well. I made an accordion medallion layered on a scallop circle for some extra color and depth. The snowflake was punched using a Martha Stewart punch. If anyone can point me in the direction of a fabulous snowflake die, I would love to know. Thanks!

The finishing touches include some of the re-purposed tickets, ribbon, buttons and of course, a jingle bell! I had a ball with this sketch! I hope you all find some time to play along!

You won't want to miss the other designers!
Jen Del Muro and Stephanie
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Jodi Collins
CAROLE
Thanks for fluttering by!
P.S. My Mom, my sister and I are taking Emma to see Ballet West perform The Nutcracker today. I am giddy with excitement! I can't wait to watch Emma as she soaks it all in and experiences the magic! I think it is the perfect way to start off the holiday season!

And the Winner is.....

DEBORAH SAARANEN!!!!! Yay! If you want to email me your mailing adress @ kellyrory1@msn.com I will get your goodies out to you! I had such a fun time reading all of your fun comments! The snow itself wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but the temperatures have been soooooooo cold! Thanks for all of your well wishes, too! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I will be back tomorrow with a new SFYTT! Thanks for fluttering by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating the end of fall, being with friends and family and of course, the food! Speaking of which, I need to make this short because I have pies to make and rolls to get ready. We are headed to my Mom's this year for Thanksgiving and I wanted to bring a card with some of the fall photos I took of my kids. I sent a card to my in-laws as well.

I have mentioned before that I wanted to play catch up on all of the SFYTT and I think this is the last sketch that I needed to use. It was one that I was the most intimidated by, but in the end it was really fun and the ideas came easily. I was inpspired to use "Lovely as a Tree" as a few of you mentioned that it would be one of your must have sets if you could only pick one. Keep the comments coming until midnight tonight, MST! I also paired it with "Holidays and Wishes" for the sentiment.

Everything is very straightforward in this one. Simple and easy and great for when you are in a hurry! The thing that I love most about Jen's SFYTT is that I end up by using my stamps and supplies in different ways. I never would have used these particular images in this way! Thanks for fluttering by and enjoy your Thanksgiving!