A New Year at 4 Crafty Chicks....

Hello everyone! I am home again....we got back around 9 p.m. tonight and unloaded our truck. It is chilly here in central Alberta once again. We had a very enjoyable Christmas with my Dad and his girlfriend and now back home to get ready for New Years! LOL...

Speaking of New Years....the challenge I set over at 4 Crafty Chicks this week is "A New Year." Now, that can mean many things....a celebration, resolutions, goals, etc. For ME...2011 is going to be ALL ABOUT ME! Sounds selfish doesn't it? Well, that's good!!! LOL It's my year for health. Now, I'm not talking resolutions, because quite frankly, I don't believe in them....this is my continued efforts with my fitness regime with my trainer and really focusing more on eating CLEAN, along with having more mental stress removed from my life! I am also going to be taking more time out of life to enjoy my CRAFTING...whatever that may be - stamping, scrapbooking, crochet or cross stitch! :)

So, that being said - I just *had* to ink up one of my fav stamp sets from Stampingbella that shows that my health is what a new year means to me...I also found this gorgeous color combo over at Stacey's Stamping Stage to use for my image:


Stamps: Stampingbella; Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze DP, Pear Pizzazz DP; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Accessories: rub-on's, markers, espresso ribbon, nestabilities, paper piercer, dimensionals

Please be sure to check out the other projects the rest of the Chicks created for this challenge. Their links are on my righthand sidebar! I am looking forward to seeing what a NEW YEAR means to you!

Happy New Year to all of you!

On holiday....

Good morning everyone! I sure hope you all had a fantastic holiday filled with love, laughter and all things YUMMY! I know I have :) I am currently at my Dad's celebrating our Christmas and I will be returning later on today, so my post for this week's 4 Crafty Chicks challenge will be up later on this evening!

See you soon!

SPCC #80 - Fancy Flourishee

Welcome back crafting PEEPS! Our color combo this week is a nice, warm, calming one I think and I really enjoyed that after all the Christmas cards I've been pumping out LOL...I knew right away that I wanted to use Samantha's set, Flourishee, for this one - the layout is one I just whipped up as I was making the card :)

Stamps: Flourishee, Ultimate Sentiments; Paper: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, River Rock DP; Ink: Soft Suede; Accessories: Always Artichoke seam binding, button, hemp thread, paper piercer, dimensionals, nestabilities, word window punch, modern label punch

Please take a look-see at the rest of the SPCC Color Divas blogs for more wonderful inspiration using this color palette...I can guarantee that you will be inspired to create with us! Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays this week! :)

PPC - CC#43 - Happy Birthday, Leanne!!

Happy Monday! I hope this finds you all healthy and filled to the brim with Christmas cheer, great food, family visits etc. I had a very nice Christmas Day and we are getting ready this morning to go and spend some time with my Dad and celebrate Christmas with him.

Megan has given us a nice, bright, cheery combo this week over at Picture Perfect Creations and I really had a ton of fun creating a birthday card for my longest, dearest friends - Leanne! Tamie and I met with Leanne last Tuesday in Drayton Valley to help her celebrate it and we had such a wonderful day!!

I scoped out a few challenge sites for the perfect sketch and I came across an older one from Karen Giron over at The Sweetest Thing....

Stamps: Totally Stampalicious; Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red, Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Accessories: markers, word window punch, modern label punch, dimensionals, pear pizzazz ribbon, martha border punch, embossing folder, paper piercer

Please be sure to check out the rest of the design team's blogs on my right-hand sidebar for some more gorgeous inspiration! I hope you are able to take some time this week and play along with us at PPC! :) See you shortly with another color combo from Scrapmaster's Paradise!!

Sketch Challenge from 4 Crafty Chicks

Happy Thursday! Only 2 more sleeps!!?! I am suffering from a nasty head/chest cold this week, so I'm really hoping that it will subside soon....Buckley's has been my best friend LOL....ewww!

It's my turn to host the challenge this week at 4 Crafty Chicks and I made up a sketch using My Digital Studio...I sure hope you find some time during the hustle bustle of the holidays to sit and create with us :)

I needed a color combo for my sketch, so I found this lovely one over at Stacey's Stamping Stage:

..and here is my square card using both challenges:

Stamps: Serene Snowflake, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, Burgundy DP; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: sponge dauber, nestabilities, scallop trim punch, circle punches, scallop circle punch, word window punch, modern label punch, gems, dimensionals, vanilla satin ribbon

Please be sure to check out the blogs from the rest of the Chicks:

Leanne - Banking on Crafts

Melissa - My Paper Obsession

Tamie - Paper Infusions and More

I would like to just take this time to thank each and every one of you who have visited our 4 Crafty Chicks blog and participated in our weekly challenges. We are so lucky to have such awesome followers and we cannot wait to bring your another year of challenges....

Merry Christmas!!

Thanks, Colour Q!!

A huge thank you is goin' out to Arielle and the gang over at Colour Q for acknowledging THIS card and making me one of her Colour Courtier's this week! Thanks ladies - it's soooo fun doing these challenges and I would like to say thank YOU for making them up for us each week to play along with!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A Diva Coffee Break with Scrapmaster's Paradise...

Welcome back! Samantha has an AWESOME color combo for y'all to try this week....

...doesn't that just make you want to create something "FUN?" I did :) I used the neat sketch from Diva Coffee Break Designs for my card....

...here is my card using a set from My Favorite Things....I haven't had ink on this one for probably a year or more...and it's such a FUN one to color and paper piece :)

Stamps: MFT; Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil DP; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Early Espresso; Accessories: markers, oval punches, pearls, circle punches, dimensionals

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

Tip Top Tuesday - Christmas Related

Creative Belli Blog - Christmas Embellishments

Fresh Brewed Blog - Merry Christmas

Be sure to check out the other SPCC Color Divas blogs - links are on the righthand side of my blog. Take some time to craft this week - it will do ya good :) Cheers!!

PPC Specialty Challenge #2 - Anything Christmas!

Good Monday morning!! Five more sleeps...can you BELIEVE it?! Wow...comin' fast it is. I am pretty much ready for the big day - the weekend was spent wrapping and sorting everything out as far as gifts and cards etc. I have a bit more baking to do and that's about it. Yay!

Megan has a special challenge for you this week over at Picture Perfect Creations - Anything Christmas Related. Here's the photo she has for some inspiration if you need it:

For this challenge, I decided to show you the gift card holders I made this year. I got the idea from a friend of mine who was looking through a CardMaker magazine :) These are full-size cards and the pocket for the gift card is on the front. Aren't they cute? I made a couple designs using the Jolly Holiday Designer Paper:

Stamps: All Year Cheer (retired); Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DP; Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Accessories: circle punches, scallop circle punch, scallop trim border punch, cobbler seam binding, dimensionals

I am entering my cards into the following challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas Related

Creative Belli Blog - Christmas Embellishments

Fresh Brewed Blog - Merry Christmas

Stamp Something - Something with a Tag or Pocket

Be sure to hop on over to the rest of the PPC Design Team blogs and leave them each some lovin'...they've made some gorgeous Christmas creations just for you! (Links are on my righthand sidebar)

Thanks for popping in this morning during this busy time :) Try to take some time out of the busy, hectic schedule to sit and craft with us! See you shortly for another Scrapmaster's Color Challenge.....

Stella Meets Colour Q

Good evening everyone...it's been a very long time since I've taken some time to craft just for the sake of crafting so tonight was the night! I went blog surfin' and found this awesome color challenge over at Colour Q (sorry but I didn't have any Kiwi, Ruby or Bermuda, so I substituted with Olive, Real Red and Turquoise)

...and then I came across this nice, clean, simple sketch from Card Positioning Systems:

....and the challenge over at Totally Stampalicious is a "Clean and Simple card" and for me, this is *fairly* simple and it's been so long since I've played in one of their challenges - so it worked for me! :) Hope you like her:

Stamps: Totally Stampalicious; Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Tempting Turquoise DP; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Accessories: markers, paper piercer, scallop trim punch, circle punches, scallop circle punch, dimensionals

I just {heart} Stella so much...she cracks me right up!!!! Thanks so much for stopping in tonight - I'm off to enjoy the rest of my evening - getting my "one-last-trip-to-the-city" list ready for tomorrow morning! I hope you all are finding some time amongst this busy season to relax and C-R-E-A-T-E :) Happy crafting xoxoxox

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #16 and Curtain Call #60

Good morning! How is everyone doing this morning in blogland? You ready for an awesome, fun, cute challenge?! Tamie, our hostess-with-the-mostest has brought us a "SNOWMAN/SNOWMEN" challenge this week at 4 Crafty Chicks. FUN! I, for one, am addicted to snowmen...anyone who knows me, knows that my house is full of them as soon as the snow flies :)



I snuck over to Stacey's Stamping Stage and saw this absolutely PERFECT color combo for the stamp I wanted to use and I'm sure you will agree that they go hand-in-hand:



Stamps: Holiday Lineup, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Certainly Celery; Ink: Momento Black; Accessories: martha border punch, celery ribbon, markers, embossing folders, word window punch, oval punch, scallop oval punch, dimensionals, pearls, gems

Are they not just the cutest "snowman lineup" you've ever seen? This set from SU! is one of my all-time fav's! :) I cannot *wait* to see what creations come of this challenge! Wheeee!

Pop on over to the other Chicks' blogs:

Leanne - Banking on Crafts

Melissa - My Paper Obsession

Tamie - Paper Infusions and More

Thanks for stopping by this morning - be sure to take a bit of time and grab a fresh brewed coffee, or tea, and go sit and CREATE and then hop on back to the 4 Crafty Chicks blog and link up your project so we can show you some luvin's too :) Stay warm!

What I've been up to....

Happy "hump day" crafting PEEPS! It is *finally* snowing here in central Alberta (at least at my house it is - wink!) I've been hearing all these nasty reports of major snow storms and freezing rain/blowing snow/blizzards and nothing has been happening here! I am a snow-lover and would love for an old-fashioned blizzard (huge dump of snow) to come our way :) I will probably get thousands of virtual snowball thrown at me for saying that, but oh well - that's how I feel! hee hee...

OK...so I've been a bit busy the past few days making some cute, cute, cute goodies for Christmas and customers. My sister, Jackie, introduced me to Kerry's Paper Crafts blog a while ago, and I finally had the time to sit and thoroughly peruse it...OMGOSH...Kerry, you are SO talented! I CASE'd these tic tac holders from her. Aren't they the bestest?!? I love them...I gave my stamping group each a small one - these ones are jumbo ones (100 tic tacs in each) so I had to alter my measurements a bit, but easy peesy to make!


..and these cute little treasures are made with Stampin' Up's XL Bitty Box & Envelope die and I am adding blank gift tags in each box for people to put on presents etc.

So, there ya have it...I've been a bit busy but sure havin' a ton of fun! :) I am almost ready for Christmas....just my kids' gifts to buy and then I'm done! WAHOOO! And I don't have a lot to wrap either as a lot of them are gift cards...I did the easy-woman's shopping this year. LOL...

Thanks for stopping in this afternoon...I'm going to sit and try and get some more DT stuff done and ahead of the game so I'm not rushing through holidays...I hope you have a great day! See you tomorrow morning with another 4 Crafty Chicks challenge....

SPCC #78 - Winter Wishes

Welcome back! Samantha from Scrapmaster's Paradise has a wonderful color combo for us this week! I wanted to ink up one of Samantha's gorgeous stamp sets, so I chose the beautiful set, Falling Snow....it went very well with this combination this week....

Stamps: Falling Snow; Paper: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Crumb Cake DP; Ink: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue; Accessories: top note bigz die, scallop trim punch, white grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber, embossing folder, acrylic blocks, pearls

Be sure to check out the SPCC website for the prize Samantha is offering up this week! It's amazing! :) I cannot wait to see what everyone makes using these wonderful colors...ciao for now!

Picture Perfect Creations Challenge #42

Good morning! Welcome back to another Picture Perfect Creations challenge :) Can you believe there are only 11 more days until Christmas? It always seems like December flies by so fast as an adult...as a kid, time drags on and on and on...LOL. Are you ready for the big day? I am almost there...just my kids to buy for and I have a pretty good idea what we're getting them, so I should be all done by the end of this week! Yay!

Ok...onto Megan's wonderful color combo for this week. I really enjoyed these 3 together and I can't wait to see what beauties you come up with!

...the sketch I used for my card is from Our Creative Corner:
...here is my card using both challenges:

Stamps: Because I Care; Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green DP, Daffodil Delight DP, Basic Gray DP; Ink: Garden Green; Accessories: Daisies Bigz Die, button, hemp thread, pearls, circle punch, dimensionals, embossing folder

Be sure to hop on over to the other design teams blogs for more delicious inspiration using these colors. Their links are on my righthand sidebar. Head on over to the PPC Challenge Blog and link up your creation so we can share the love with YOU! See you shortly for another Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Challenge....

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #15

Good morning crafty PEEPS! Are you ready for "delicious" color challenge from 4 Crafty Chicks? This one is brought to you by our wonderful Melissa, and let me just say - you are gonna LUV it! I hopped on over to Sweet Sunday sketch blog and found an amazingly "perfect" sketch for the stamp set I wanted to color this week....check it out:

Stamps: Holiday Lineup; Paper: Bashful Blue, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive (I didn't have Kiwi Kiss), Whisper White, Basic Grey DP; Ink: Momento Black; Accessories: snowflake embossing folder, paper piercer, markers, rub-on's, dimensionals

My card also qualifies for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Show a Holiday Greeting

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Christmas Card

Stampavie and More - Christmas

Your Next Stamp Challenge - CAS Christmas

Aren't these colors wonderful together?! Melissa, you did super great putting this combo together and I can't wait to see what creations come of it this week! Be sure to pop on over to the rest of the Chicks' blogs - links are on my righthand sidebar.

Thanks for stopping in today - hope you take some "oh-my-gosh-I-need-to-take-a-holiday-prepration-break" time and play with us this week :) Ciao!

SPCC #77 and Mercy's Tuesday Sketch

Welcome back!! This week's color combo from Samantha at Scrapmaster's was a fun one! I knew right away what image I wanted to ink up for this one....it is a new set I got from our LSS....the sketch I found from Lord Have Mercy! and it was a perfect one to go along with this little precious cutie!



...and here is my 5.25" x 5.25" card using both challenges:

Stamps: Pure Innocence (MFT); Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Paper: Rose Red, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green DP, Rose Red DP; Accessories: nestabilities, markers, embossing folders, pearls, dimensionals, glue pen, glitter, acrylic blocks

Isn't she just the cutest? :) She makes me smile...I sure hope that during these busy days ahead, you get time to sit and craft with us using our colors from SPCC....be sure to check out the other Color Divas (links on right-hand sidebar) for more wonderful inspiration! Happy crafting!

Picture Perfect Creations Color Challenge #41

Happy Monday!How was your weekend? Mine was B-U-S-Y! My Dad and his girlfriend, Deb, came on Friday night and stayed the weekend, DH and I went to his staff Christmas party on Sat night, then on Sunday my sista, Jackie, her DH and 3 kiddos came to visit on Sunday! It was a full house but it was sure nice to visit with everyone :) How was YOUR weekend?

Are you ready for another color combo from Megan at Picture Perfect Creations? I enjoyed CASE'ing a card out of our SU! Idea Book and Catalog this week using these wonderful colors:


Stamps: Friends 24-7; Ink: Cajun Craze, So Saffron; Paper: So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Cajun DP; Accessories: XL bird punch, pearls, white gel pen, dimensionals, smooch spritz

Be sure to check out all the other design team's blogs (links on right-hand sidebar) for more wonderful inspiration this week and leave them some love...they did AMAZING projects with these colors this week!

Thanks for stopping in and stay tuned for a fun color combo from Scrapmaster's Paradise....

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #14

Welcome back to another challenge from the 4 Crafty Chicks! Leanne is our hostess-with-the-mostess and she has picked a "Birthday" theme...I hopped on over to the Color Throwdown blog and found this gorgeous color combination:

...then I needed to find a sketch for my colors and I came across a new-to-me challenge site called Creatalicious Challenges...check out this beauty (there is an added touch to their challenge - add some distressing so I inked all my edges):

...here is my card using my both challenges:

Stamps: Vintage Labels; Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist; Ink: Marina Mist, Early Espresso; Accessories: embossing folders, nestabilities, acrylic blocks, paper piercer, sponge dauber, dimensionals, espresso ribbon, flowers, martha leaf punch, pearls

The other chicks have some lovely inspiration for you:

Leanne Elliott - Banking on Crafts

Melissa Hubert - My Paper Obsession

Tamie Camp - Paper Infusions and More

I can't wait to see what you come up with for Leanne's theme this week...birthdays are so fun! Happy craftin'....:)