LOVING THE LEAVES

For the Colorful Creations Favorite Things challenge this month you needed to do a layout about something you love about Fall or a Favorite Fall Activity.  I love to watch the changing colors of the leaves and to take rides to see how they have changed.  Being a few hours south of where I used to live, the leaves don't change quite as fast, in fact they are only getting started now.  I wasn't able to get photos of any of the actual leaves but I took a few more of the October photos of me and Michael and put them on a wonderful patterned paper of fall leaves and also accented them by putting some silk leaves on pop dots which I added some sheen to with Perfect Pearls. I distressed the edges of everything with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain.  The instructions also were to use warm Fall colors of brown, red, yellow and orange. To create the layout I started with Creative Scrappers Sketch #252.

The Sketch:

I finished it off with some twine and lots of orange bling.  I am also entering this layout in Top Tip Tuesday challenge #113 about the Seasons, Pink Elephant challenge TPE223 for Distressing, Party Time Tuesday #144 Anything Goes, Divas by Design Use some Orange, and Word Art Wednesday #104 Anything Goes.

My Layout:

I am also going to link up at Link up #4 with The Memory Nest.

I have a real crazy day today - layouts to finish, challenges to prepare for November, errands, laundry and getting some odds and ends for my son for Halloween.  So I am off and running.  Have an awesome day and thanks for dropping by.

AUTUMN

Here is a layout I created last night.  I started out using sketch #24 from 2 Broke Girls.  I used 3 types of embellishments that start with B (Borders, buttons and brads) for challenge #157 at the Crazy Challenge and the theme of Autumn for The Theme Park challenge on Colorful Creations.

Here is the sketch (which I rotated 1/4 turn clockwise)

and here is my layout:

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of Autumn inspiration.  I promise to be back again later today with another!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  All comments lovingly enjoyed and appreciated!

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO...

It has been so hectic the last few days that I have not had the chance to post so here finally is what I have been up to.

First was a card I made for the youth group to give to Pastor for Pastor Appreciation Month along with the cake that they baked for her.

I used pink and grey for the October Color Challenge at Scrapbook.com, 2 different embossing folders for challenge #122 at Shopping Our Stash, and sketch # 2 rotated 1/4 turn clockwise from Scrapbook.com October Card Sketch.

The Sketch:

My Card:

Next is a layout of my son Thomas from Boyscout Summer Camp this past summer.  I used the Guest Designer Sketch from Colorful Creations.

The Sketch:

My Layout:

And finally another layout - this one of me and Michael last week at the Gazebo at my apartment complex.  For this I used Sketch October Week 4 from Let's Get Sketchy and Halloween range papers for a non-Halloween layout.

My Layout:

I hope that you have enjoyed viewing these creations and will come back again soon.  I'm off to create something else!

CARD OF THE DAY

Today I made a sympathy card for Kelly to send along with the tribute book.  I had always loved the little Sizzix flower die and had used it many times so when I saw it came in a full size die I just had to have it. Today I chose to use it for my sympathy card. My card base paper was black cardstock and I topped it with an SEI Ivory patterned paper that had black velvet accents.  I used Scrapbook.com's October Card Sketch Challenge #3 for my design.

Although I kept the orientation of the card and sentiment the same I positioned my flower vertical as well.  I added glitter accents to the flower as I heard Catherine had liked bling and felt it would be fitting.

Here is the card I created:

I am also entering this in Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge #103.

Thanks for dropping by again.  Hopefully I will get to more creating now that the weekend is nearly upon us and I will have more to share with you.

A TRIBUTE TO CATHERINE

A few weeks ago a sweet girl I went to grade school and high school with lost her battle to a serious illness.  I also went to school with her sister.  I wanted to do something special in her memory as I now live in Delaware and wasn't able to make the service.  This is a mini accordian book I made that I am sending to her sister.  (I discovered that I have a much easier time working in a large size than in a small one! It took much longer than I anticipated to complete it.)

Here it is:

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing this tribute and especially that Kelly will like it when she receives it.  Now, here is the business they started together just a year ago - Linger - Unmentionables Worth Mentioning.  Stop by and give their page a 'like' and tell Kelly Paula (from St. Matt's) sent you. (but don't mention the book in case she hasn't received it yet!  I want it to be a surprise!)

ps- I am sharing it on Word Art Wednesday.  

A SWEET TREAT

Today I am bringing you a sweet treat from the Scraps to Treasure Team.  Each month we choose a different project to create using only our scraps! With Halloween on the horizon we were thinking sweets so our projects are Candy Wrappers with either a Halloween or Fall theme.

You should have arrived here from Jearise.  The hop started with our Hostess Lissa Marie (who is also our Guest Designer this month at Colorful Creations).  Please make sure you started from Lissa so that you don't miss any fun projects or blog candy opportunities.  

First I took out the candy and then I gathered my Halloween and fall colored scraps and some embellishments.

and then I got to work.  I have never done candy wrappers before but they really weren't any harder than wrapping a package just on a smaller scale.

and here they are:

  

This is the complete line-up in case you get lost anywhere along the way:

Lissa Marie - www.somanycrafts.com (our hostess with the mostest!)

Robin S. - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/

Camille ~ http://shortonideasaz.blogspot.com/

Jearise ~ Http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com (you should have come from here!)

Paula ~ http://preciouspagesbypaula.blogspot.com/ (you are here now!)

Pam ~ www.scrappletree.com (go here next!)

I am also entering these creations in the Say It With Words Challenge at Colorful Creations!  

Hope that you have enjoyed your sweet treats today!  Thanks for stopping by.  Don't forget to come by next month (November 16, 2013) to play Tic-Tac-Toe!

LAST PAGE FROM THE ENCHANTED WOODS

but not the last page from Winterthur.  In fact, the woods was only the beginning!  

I started with sketch #2 from Scrapbook.com's October Sketch Challenge.  

The Sketch:

and after adding my elements and photos I embellished everything with Stickles!

My Layout:

I am also linking up with Inspire Me Fridays Linky Party #125 on Five Simple Things blog and Paper Pretties #PWC280 Permission to Embellish everything.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back again on Saturday for a sweet treat brought to you by the Scraps To Treasures Team.

TEA TIME IN THE ENCHANTED WOODS

Come by and join me for a tea party at the Acorn Tearoom.  The tabletop has acorns and oak leaves carved right into it.  Then you must stop by the Tulip Tree House, built from a giant tulip-poplar tree that had lived for over 100 years.  If you open the tiny door carefully you can actually go inside the tree! 

Today's creation was done with lots of Shine and Sparkle (Stickles and Liquid Pearls) for challenge #244 at Crafty Creations Challenges, my background paper is Coordinations embossed cardstock which has lots of texture for the challenge at Try It on Tuesdays. For Fab 'n Funky challenge #189 the flowers are spots and my photo mats have stripes.  At Whoopsi Daisy this week the challenge calls for using spots (the flowers) and dots (on the tea cup).  I am also linking up with The Memory Nest.

And finally - here is my layout:

I hope you enjoyed our little tea party.  Stop back tomorrow for more from the Enchanted Woods.

STILL ENCHANTED

Here are a few more photos of me in the enchanted faerie garden at Winterthur.  I had such a wonderful day when I went there.  The mansion was awesome, the museum spectacular and as you can see it was a beautiful day and I just loved the grounds.

I used a October sketch #1 from Let's Get Sketchy-

Like I have been doing with all my faerie pages I have used a lot of Stickles (which I rarely use) but the faerie's have inspired me to make everything sparkle!  They were also matted twice and layered on to other papers so I am also entering this into Colorful Creations Creative Monthly Project.

Here is my layout:

I know I had hoped to finish the Enchanted Garden section of Winterthur yesterday but I still have several photos to go...probably at least another 2-4 pages.  Watch for them coming soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  All comments greatly appreciated.

HERE I AM ENCHANTED...

I finally completed this layout this morning.  Lately it has been taking me forever to complete a layout.  And, I've been using Stickles which I NEVER do which take so long to dry that it seems even longer!  It just seemed to me that the Enchanted Woods and Faeries needed to sparkle.

This layout was done with 2 Broke Girls Sketch 23 which I rotated 1/4 turn clockwise.

Here's the sketch:

I used elements for the "E" Challenge over at Colorful Creations which I lifted from this layout.

The elements I used from this were doily, buttons and a key.

And now here is my layout:

I hope to finish up on the Enchanted Woods section of my Winterthur photos later today...

Thanks for stopping by.

ANOTHER FROM THE ENCHANTED WOODS

Here is the companion page to the one I did yesterday of photos I took at Winterthur Museum and Mansion. This is the Fairie Cottage.  For my layout I used the sketch for the Creating Keepsakes contest and lots of sparkle! (and of course a few faeries!)

Here's the sketch:

and here is my Layout:

I am also going to enter this in Top Tip Tuesday Challenge #111 Flowers and a DT Call.  My tip is that you can also use Crafters Workshop (or other templates or stencils) with stickles.  I have always used them with inks, paints or other things you brush over but this time I used the small tipped bottles and just squirted into the openings.  Keep a Q-tip around in case it gets too thick or the stencil moves and gets some of the sparkle where you don't want it.  If you catch it right away you can't even tell where it was.  And then of course, leave it sit somewhere safely for a REALLY long time to dry completely.

I am going to try to get one more layout done...but it is getting late and I have an early morning with a lot of activity tomorrow as our church is having a huge block party for the community and I am over-seeing the childrens activities.    So I may or may not have something more to add tonite.  

I am so happy you stopped by and hope you will come again to see more from Winterthur or other bits and pieces of my life.

A FIRST FROM WINTERTHUR

This page will start my tour of Winterthur - another of the DuPont mansions here in Delaware.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I took far too many photos.  There was the mansion, a museum and stunning grounds.  This was taken in a section called the Enchanted Woods.  

I used the Member Spotlight Sketch from Colorful Creations which I rotated 1/4 turn clockwise.

The Sketch:

I used 3 patterned papers (in addition to my background sheet), 3 embellishments (fiber, a charm and 3 buttons) and sparkle (yes, I actually used my Stickles!) along with my fairies for Flutterby Wednesday, and for me this is Shabby Chic which is the challenge over at Whoopsi Daisy. As I used a charm I am also entering this in challenge #132 at The Paper Shelter.

And here is the Layout - (which yes, I have been working on now since Thomas' Birthday on the 7th - mojo has been rough with this nasty sinus infection and my art area is a disaster - I have lost 2 pair of detail scissors while doing this layout!)

Hopefully the next page will move along a bit faster as tonite I will be heading to Thomas' Boyscout Award night meeting.  Please stop back again later and find out!

TODAY'S CREATIONS AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS!

Today I did 2 cards.  The first is for my wonderful Pastor, Barbara Auer of Kingswood United Methodist Church in Newark, DE.  

I used sketch #177 from Sunday Sketch and Stamp, and the color palette PPA174-A from Pals Paper Arts.

The Sketch:

 The Color Palette:

My Card:

And the next card is for my son Thomas' 15th Birthday!  I used sketch #255 from Unscripted Sketches.  I used a music theme as he is an awesome guitarist.

The Sketch:

My Card:

and here he is:

I'm a bit tired but I am hoping to put together a layout before I head to bed.  So...I'm off to create!  Thanks for stopping by.

A BELATED HAPPY WORLD CARD MAKING DAY

I managed to sneak in a few cards this evening.  I am finally starting to feel a bit better.  This has been one nasty case of sinusitis.  It has taken nearly the entire Zpack just to start feeling a bit better.  In any case - enough of that and on to the cards...

There was a crop at My Scraps and More so this was where I got started.  I did 3 of their challenges.

The first was Audrey's challenge to create a masculine card.  

This is what I came up with:

I am also entering this in Fussy & Fancy - one for the boys and Cupcake Inspirations challenge #231 Steampunk.

The next one was Wendi's Recipe.

The Recipe:
make a 5.5 x 5.5 card
Use at least 5 PPs
Use some trim or ribbon
Add a focal diecut, stamp, image (mine is the heart)
and a sentiment 

I used sketch #DS121 at Deconstructing Jen.

The Sketch:

My Card:

I am also entering this card in Sugar Creek Hollow challenge #71 - Romance and in Inspire Me Friday - challenge 123 Anything Goes.

and finally Tracey's Color Palette Challenge:

This was the inspiration photo I chose:

I used sketch #279 from Sketch Saturday.

The Sketch:

My Card:

And finally I am off to bed.  Tomorrow is my youngest son's 15th birthday and the day I have chosen to honor my Pastor for Pastor Appreciation Month so I know there will be a few more cards tomorrow!
Thanks for stopping by!

TO DIE FOR...

Welcome to the Krazy Crafting Crew's October blog hop: To "Die" For. Many crafters today have die cutting machines and we thought it would be fun to let them show off some of the work they do with their machines and tell us which machine they own. I can guarantee you will have a fun time looking at all their creations and if you're in the mood for a new die cutting machine, their work might sway you on which one to buy.

Our hostess for this hop is Jearise from Lorby's World and her blog is the place to start. She will have a give away going on so make sure you check out how to get signed up for that while you're visiting her.

Now let the fun begin...

I currently own the Sizzix Big Kick. I also have the Side Kick which I have had from when the Sizzlet dies came out. Now everything can be used in my Big Kick so the little machine only gets to come to crops if I am not planning on using embossing folders or full size dies.

This is my machine and the dies and embossing folders I used for these cards:

The first reason I went with the Sizzix Big Kick is that I already had a huge collection of dies from when I used the Sizzix Big Red Original Machine. While I had the Big Red I also purchased the Side Kick when they introduced Sizzlets which are much thinner smaller dies than the originals. The next reason was that I had tested out a Cricut at a scrapbook shop and found it much too complicated - it was great to be able to cut the same design in a variety of sizes and to be able to download cuts from online or design your own but the learning curve was greater than I was willing to do when I already had so much invested in my 'so easy' to use Sizzix. At this point I decided to upgrade my 'Big Red' to the 'Big Kick'. After I got the Big Kick I started collecting embossing folders. I use these nearly all the time. The machine is SO easy to use. You create a 'sandwich' with your die/folder and paper between some cutting plates. You put it at the front of the machine and crank the handle. It quickly rolls out the back complete.

Saturday was World Card Making Day so I decided to use my Sizzix Big Kick to help me create some cards.

The first one uses Sketch #313 from Mojo Monday.

The Sketch:

My Card:

The next one uses sketch #194 from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges.

The Sketch:

My Card:

Thank you for stopping by and now on to Jessi at www.mylifeinartsncrafts.com

In case you arrived here from another site here is the full line up for the hop.

Full Line up:

Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com

Lissa - http://www.somanycrafts.com/

Janet - http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com/

Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/

Cicily - http://www.pinkdalmatianscrapper.com/

Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com

Anita and Bugs - http://anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/

Paula - www.preciouspagesbypaula.blogspot.com

Jessi - www.mylifeinartsncrafts.com

Thanks so much for joining us and learning a bit more about die-cutting. A random commenter will be selected to win an envelope filled with various diecuts.