It seems like Christmas.....

went by in a flash. All the prep and anticipation, then all over so quickly. Do you feel that way too? While it was wonderful to relax and unwind this weekend, I wish it could last longer. I guess the next best thing is to try to keep that warm fuzzy feeling all year long. I want to share a photo of some cute Christmas treat holders I made with Stampin' Up! "Dashing" Designer paper which is retired, Old Olive card stock, and the Holiday Best stamp set, a hostess set. I also used the Scallop Circle punch and the 1 3/8 inch punch. I think they would be really nice for a dinner place marker or in a little bowl on your desk or table. Each one has a yummy Ghirardelli Chocolate square in it.

I may be.......

in the midst of Christmas preparations, but I have a birthday card to post. I forgot to post this one I made for my sister Chris back in November. I used Stampin' Up's Fifth Avenue Floral and Sincere Salutations stamp sets, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White card stock, Raspberry Tart designer paper, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, Rose Red and Basic Black ink. I also used Nestibilities to make the ovals.

There is a good reason....

God gives us children when we are young. After a day of Gingerbread house makin', tree trimmin', and cookie bakin' with my granddaughter Olivia, this old girl is just worn out. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. Tomorrow we are going to craft and make some Christmas gifts. I better get to bed so I will be ready to go again in the morning. I hope you all are enjoying the preparations for the holidays too!

Happy Thanksgiving.....

Wishing all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving a safe and enjoyable holiday. My wish is that everyone has something to give thanks for, and that you will take a moment to reflect on your blessings and give thanks to our Creator. I have so many things to be thankful for, and the people I've met through my stamping and blog are definitely on that list. God bless and happy Thanksgiving.

Who comes up with these ideas?

Some people are so creative. I learned how to do this folded card on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. Clicking on the link will take you to the video. Thank you so much for the video, Dawn and Georgia Giguere for the design! You need to make this card, it is serious fun! Mine was a big hit at the last workshop. It got "loved" a lot and the tree's trunk even got lost. I guess I need to make another.
Supplies used: Stampin' Up!'s Kraft, Whisper White, and Ruby Red card stock. Merry Moments Designer paper, Hemp twine, Garden Green Classic ink and the Season of Joy stamp set.
Here is a side view, now go, go watch the video and make the card!

Some more Christmas cards...............

This one is one of the workshop Make-N-Takes for this month. My Stampin' Up! "Dasher" stamp is really getting a workout lately. I love this little guy! No glitz this time. All supplies from Stampin' Up!. I chose the casual colors of Ruby Red, Kraft and Basic black card stock. A little strip of the Holiday Lounge designer paper gives it some pizazz. The ribbon is Kraft Taffeta. I used a white gel pen to add some faux stitching and some doodley-dots. The little Christmas greeting is from a retired set, "Best Yet".



This one is so simple. All I used is Stampin' Up!'s Real Red and Whisper White card stock. Christmas Cocoa Specialty designer paper, and the Ornament Punch, all from the Holiday Mini Catalog that you can see here.



The background was made with a CB embossing folder and some silver wired ribbon from my scrapping stash. I accomplished the faded effect on the embossing by putting a piece of chipboard in the middle of the folder, causing it to embossing deeper where the shape was placed. Easy-peasy!
I'll have some more to post tomorrow. Thanks for visiting!

I spent the afternoon work on a few Christmas cards for tomorrow's stamp club. They have several layers and I had a lot of cutting to do. I like what I designed, but I am really drawn to the clean look of this very simple Christmas card. Navy and green and white is one of my favorite color combos.



Supplies, all from Stampin' Up!
Stamps:Patterned Pines Hostess level 1 set and Season of Joy set
Ink: Handsome Hunter, Mellow Moss, Basic Black
Card Stock: Whisper White, Old Olive and Night of Navy.

I will post the other cards after the workshop. Right now I need to go clean up all the mess I made in the craft room. My creativity level is directly related to the amount of mess I make!

A cute little project share......

I had a little crafting time so I made myself a little customer Rolodex. I've got my customers on the computer and in Stampin' Up!'s Customer Manager, but sometimes I just want to look up a phone number or address without turning the computer on so I made this for myself.



I used the Stampin' Up! Rounded Label punch to make the alpha dividers of of various SU cardstock, stamping on the A-B and so on. I made a sunflower with Summer Sun card stock, Chocolate Chip card stock and the Scallop Circle and the 1 and 1/4 inch punch, Little Leaves Sizzlet and my Big Shot. The polka dot paper is from the Day and Night Designer paper pack. The polka dot ribbon is out of my scrapping stash. I am thinking this would be a cute Christmas gift. What do you think?

I love this technique!

You know how sometimes you find something that you are so tickled with you just can't stop sharing about it. Well, this is one of those things for me. This might be something you already know how to do, but for those of you who don't, I am going to hook you up with a really great video at Tami White's Blog that show you how to make this. Ta-Da, Diamond Crimped Background!
Here is my card: (sorry about the blurring, this one is tough to photograph)



Supplies: Stampin' Up!'s "Blooming Beautiful" stamp set, SU's Very Vanilla and Close to Cocoa card stock, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Copic markers, crimper and Stampin' Up! Dimensionals.
Now... run over to Tami's and learn how to make this background!
Stamping With Tami

Another card to share....

This is the Autumn Tag card I made for the workshop last Saturday. I am going to repeat the workshop on Monday Oct 26th. This is a workshop for the Silver Spring Stampers group. Looking forward to seeing you!



Supplies:
Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black and Really Rust card stock.
Bright Blessings Jumbo wheel, Leafy Glade Background stamp (retired).
SU's Classic inks: Really Rust, Old Olive, Basic Black, and More Mustard.
Versamark ink and neutral fibers.

Pop-up Gift card holder

This month my class projects were Holiday related. I love this neat little pop-up gift card holder. Note that the shimmer doesn't show up on this photo. I learned how to make this at Linda Heller's Stampin School I think this makes such a cute presentation.

Closed with the "belly Band"


Side view


Supply List all from Stampin' Up!
Dasher stamp, Short and Sweet sayings stamp, and the Sassy Sparkles jumbo wheel. Also used the Old Olive, Whisper White and Rose Red card stock and Classic ink. Scallop Border punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Versamark ink, and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint. A Mini Glue dot holds the gift card.

Cards for the guys....

are always the toughest ones to design. I am drawn to pretty florals and soft colors so it is hard not to make to make them too girly. I think this monotoned card is very tailored and crisp and just the thing for a man's birthday. I used some Stampin' Up! Basic Gray Patterns Pack paper, Whisper White card stock, the Petal Card Big Shot die, an embossing folder, and some white twill ribbon. Inside, I used the paper left over from the die cut and some hearts punched with Stampin' Up's Heart to Heart punch out of Real Red card stock.

I have a card to share tonight....

I want to share a card I made for my brother-in-law Dave with you. I have been trying to use card stock and paper that has been around awhile so I pulled out some very unique card stock from Club Scrap. I also used the Stampin' Up! "On Your Birthday" set and some SU Natural Hemp Twine. Thanks for stopping by!

A thrift store find.......

When you are a crafter, everything relates to you in that way. When I found this rotating CD storage rack, I immediately saw that it would hold a lot of my unmounted stamp sets. I am steadily unmounting my favorite retired stamps and putting them in CD cases to free up space in my Iris cards and in the craft room. This $3 treasure will hold 80 sets of unmounteds. It is so nice to have them so handy too! Keep your eyes open, Stampers! You never know what you might find.

Black and bling all over...........

The glitter addiction seems to be still going strong. This one is black but has black Spica pen glitter on the petals of the flower. The photo doesn't show it much because it is subtle. I really like black but this is a lot of black even for me. I did another "Bring on the Bling" class last Friday for the Silver Spring Stampers (that makes three in a row)and used some of the same cards I've already posted. I did do one new one and I will post that tomorrow. I still need to photograph that one. I think I am starting to get over the glitter stage now, at least for the time being. I am not promising anything!



Supplies: Stamp: Penny Black, Cardstock Stampin' Up! Shimmery white, Basic Black, and Real Red. Accessories: Big Shot, Cuttlebug embossing folder, and black and white checked ribbon.

A slipping and sliding.........

birthday cake card. I love this little stamp set from Stampin' Up! This one is a keeper! Who doesn't love birthday cakes? I think the slanted mats add to the illusion of the cake layers sliding. What do you think? Does it, or does it just look wrong, lol?



Supplies all from Stampin' Up!
Stamps sets: On A Pedestal and It's Your Birthday. Card stock:Pretty in Pink and Close To Cocoa. Ink: Pretty In Pink, Close To Cocoa, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip. The brown designer paper is from Candy Lane which is retired. Punches: Scallop Circle and 1 3/8 Circle punch. Crystal Effects on the cherries.

Zucchini Relish recipe.....

As requested, here it is. If you are not familar with canning procedures, please check out this site to learn everything you need to know.
Fresh Preserving


ZUCCHINI RELISH
Ingredients:
8 cups chopped zucchini (approx. 10-12 med)
4 cups chopped onion (approx. 4 -5 med)
2 cups chopped sweet green peppers
2 cups chopped sweet red or yellow peppers ( I used one cup of each)
8 TBS salt 8 tsp celery seed
7 cups sugar 4 tsp mustard seed
4 cups cider vinegar
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------
Combine zucchini, onion, green , red and yellow peppers. Sprinkle with salt.
Cover with cold water. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain veggies, pressing out
liquid. Combine remaining ingredients in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
Add veggies and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour hot into hot jars , (following
water bath method of canning rules) leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Process 10 min in the boiling water bath. Makes about 8 pints.

Yummy....

My friend Carol, who is a fabulous cook gave me her zucchini relish recipe and I made some! This is not just for hot dogs, it tastes great as compliment to grilled salmon and just about any meat. It is a sweet relish and so good.


Fresh zucchini or green squash, lots of onion, green, red, and yellow sweet peppers. Lots of chopping for sure! I had to chop the ingredients by hand because the food processor was making the mix of vegetables smaller than I wanted. I was looking for some crunch to it and it turned out just right. So worth the work! I will definitely make this again.

Finally a card to post.....

Sorry I have been a slacker lately in the creative area. I am so behind on housework and paper work and (insert more whining here)! Anyway, I have wanted to try one of the neat Trifold Shutter cards that I've been seeing out there and my sister Chris and I sat down and worked on them Tuesday. Here is my first attempt. I used paper from my scrapbooking stash for it in case I messed up. I am stingy with my SU designer paper since I need it for my classes and I need to use up some of this other printed paper any way.





Long list of supplies:
Textured green Bazzil cardstock, SU Perfect Plum and Whisper White cs. SU Fifth Avenure Floral, On A Pedestal, It's Your Birthday, and Itty Bitty Buds Stamps set
Stampin Up's Mat Pack and piercer. Stampin' Pastels. Anna Griffin printed stripe and floral papers. Nestibilities. Happy Birthday on front of card from My Sentiments Exactly. Thanks for visiting!

I'm addicted.........

to Farm Town at Facebook! That is why I don't have anything new crafty thing to post yet. I will have to come up with something by Monday or Tuesday because my sister Chris is coming to stamp with me. Until then, if you are on Facebook and play Farm Town please ask me to be your neighbor. My farm name is CathyRose and my Facebook name is Cathy Richardson. See you there....it is so much fun!

Ring Ring....... hello?

I have more Bling for you! Here are the last two cards from the "Bring On The Bling" classes. I still have a few specks of glitter turning up and I made them a week ago!


Supplies: Stampin' Up! Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, and Old Olive CS. Cottage Vine designer paper, Old Olive Classic Ink, Heart to Heart punch, Scallop Edge punch. Dazzling Diamonds glitter, white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals,



Supplies: Certainly Celery and Lavender Lace cardstock. Stamps SU Simple Sketches (retired) Itty Bitty Buds, and Teeny Tiny Wishes. Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace and Basic Black ink. Lavender satin ribbon. Glitter effect made with Versamark ink and SU Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

Wow, 10 days went by in a blur.......

At least it sure seems that way. I had some surgery on my leg and the discomfort is distracting me from my crafting and computer time, lol. I want to post a card that I made using things from my stash of scrapbooking and card making supplies. I love digging through the boxes and storage cart drawers and finding things I forgot I had. I have vowed to use up some of the older stuff! Here is the card. Thanks for visiting my blog today.



Stamps: Butterfly- Hero Arts, Friendship Background stamp from Inkadinkado

Another glitzy card.....

I think this one is my favorite. In spite of having some bling, it still is clean and simple. I am also going to make this one without the glitter too.



Supplies:
SU Whisper White and Rich Razzleberry cardstock; Sincere Salutations stamp, Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink; Nestibilities oval and scalloped oval dies; SU Dazzling Diamond glitter; Two Way glue pen SU; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Big Shot die cut machine

Bring on the Bling...

Here is one of the blingy cards I had my Grace Stampers make last Monday. Our class was about having fun glitzing up your cards with glitter and embossing powder. Our first card uses Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The glitter is held on with clear packing tape applies behind the punched out shapes. Easy, fun and not so much mess! The whole card front is elevated with Dimensionals to give it some definition.



Supplies:
Stampin' Up! Heart to Heart punch, Real Red ink, Regal Rose card stock, Heard From The Heart stamp, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, White get pen, and strip of DSP- Raspberry Tart (retired).

I've been busy creating....

food, not cards, lol! I having been canning. I never have before. My DD got me interested and I started to research and became intrigued. The first thing I attempted was grape jelly. It is so easy and DH likes peanut butter and grape jelly.



Then I made some homemade salsa and processed that. I like that I can adjust thespices to our taste. Here is the salsa.



Friday I went to my daughter's house and we shopped at the Amish farmer's market for fresh fruits and vegetables. She is very lucky that the market is just a couple of miles from her. I am hoping she will decide to have her own garden next year. She certainly has the room and she also has forced labor, ahem, I mean two helpful children to share the work.
I got these peaches from the market and made some peach preserves. They are so good this time of year.I wound up eating two of the peaches. I just couldn't resist them. Because of that, I didn't have quite enough for the recipe so I had to send Don out to the farm stand to get a few extra peaches, lol.




I also made a big pot of beef vegetable soup and put it up in quart jars for us. I don't like canned soups so it will be nice to have these on hand. One more photo, the vegetable soup.



My next project is to put up some potatoes, peeled and cubed, ready to cook. I have about 25 lbs of red potatoes sitting in the kitchen waiting for me. If you are still reading, thanks for indulging my enthusiasm and looking at the photos. I'll keep you posted on my adventures in canning and I'll have some cards to post tomorrow.

Clean and simple.....

Maybe too clean and simple. I think I may try this design again and add something else to pretty it up, but I'm keeping this one just like it is. I love the tree stamp in the Thoughts and Prayers set by Stampin' Up! It is such a great set and I know I will be using it over and over. I love sets like that!



Supplies:
Confetti White, Mellow Moss, Perfect Plum and Whisper White card stock. Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Teeny Tiny Wishes. Stampin' Up's Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Big Shot Texture Plate, and Stamp-a-ma-jig. Pearls are from my scrapbooking stash.

Getting ready....

for a craft fest! No, not a workshop, just my sister Chris coming to stay this weekend. We are planning to stamp a bunch of cards to replenish our card stashes. We haven't had a chance to do this in a while so I am looking forward to it a lot. I have new stamps that haven't seen any ink yet and I've been itching to use them. I do have a card to post today using the new Bermuda Bay In Color. Hope you like it!


Supplies: Stampin' Up! Bermuda Bay, Crushed curry, Whisper White,and Basic Black card stock, Bermuda Bay and Basic Black ink. Stamps: SU's Heard From The Heart and Eastern Blooms. Two SU background stamps, Pretty Petals and Sprinkles. The turned back corner is held by and eyelet. Flowers are popped up on Dimensional. Thanks for looking!

Cute little hats card....

This is the card I made for my sister Carol's birthday. She is definitely one of a kind so I wanted to make her a special card. Her birthday was Saturday so now I can post this.



I got the directions for making the card here: Dawn's Stamping Studio
Dawn has a bunch of terrific videos for wonderful projects. Check out her site!
I changed the card a little for my own purposes and theme. I used Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock. I stamped the flowers with the flower trio from the One Of A Kind stamp set and punched them with the Boho Blossoms punch. Some white grosgrain ribbon, a pearl, and some faux stitching done with a white gel marker finished it off.

Rich Razzleberry.......

I love this color! This is a card I made for a demo swap. I only had to make 11, so that wasn't too bad. Making several of the same card is not my favorite thing to but I got 10 really nice cards back so it was totally worth it!



Supplies: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, and Very Vanilla card stock. Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, silver brads, and some Rich Razzleberry polka dotted ribbon.

A little Post-it note holder.....

I almost forgot to post this one. I love making these little Post-it note holders. They are so easy and so cute.



Supplies:
Stamps- Hero Arts butterfly and SU Upsy Daisy stamp. Paper and ink: SU Pretty in Pink and Basic Black. Black eyelets and ribbon from my stash.

Tea Party...

Designer paper, not as in drinking tea and eating cakes. I love this pretty paper. This is another card made with the Stampin' Up! Tea Party designer paper pack.



Supplies for this card:
Basket of Tulips stamp from A Flower For All Seasons stamp set. Card stock is Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White. Tea Party double sided paper, pink brad, and Slit punch all from Stampin' Up! Pink Satin ribbon from my stash.

A little thank you card...

for my mother-in-law. She gave me a lovely gift for my birthday that meant so much to me. I'm happy with it, but I have noticed that the majority of my cards have rectangles on them. I am going to have to get out of that rut, lol! I think all the cards I am working on now are that way too. After I finish this batch, I am going to make an effort to use some other shapes! Here's the card.



Supplies for this card from Stampin' Up!
A stamp from A Flower For All Seasons and sentiment from "The Mini Note Kit" from the last catalog. Basic Black ink. Tea Party DSP. So Saffron, Confetti White, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White card stock. I also used some Organza ribbon (scrap stash) and Copic markers

Well it seems to have worked....

Most of my old posts from Stop and Smell the Roses have been transferred over here so now I can concentrate on the new stuff. I have some cards to upload and I will do that later this evening. I went to the dentist today and had a crown done and ouch, my mouth is sore. I haven't had to have any dental work done except for cleaning in many years so I had forgotten just how unpleasant it is. Enough whining, I'll be back after dinner to post a project.

What's up with that?

Well, I just spend a lot of time attempting to merge my two blogs together. I followed the instructions to move all my old posts from "Stop and Smell the Roses" and the posts were exported to another Stamp Pretty blog, but it sure doesn't look like mine. I think I'm too tired to wrestle with this anymore tonight. Hopefully it will do what it is supposed to do by morning. Keep your fingers crossed!

My new blog header...

I just finished making the cute little gift box and thank you cards to match. I used the beautiful specialty paper called "To the Nines" It is card stock weight and double sided so the box is as pretty inside as out. The cards are 3"x3" and the box a little bigger. I made the scallop edge with the Stampin' Up! Scallop Edge punch which just happens to be the weekly special. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Tiny Trendy Trees....

Try saying that three times fast! Now that I'm finished tripping over my tongue, I have a card to share. Have I told you how much I love the new In Colors? Rich Razzleberry, love it! Crushed Curry, so spicy! Here is my first card made with a couple of the new colors.

Tiny Trendy Trees


Stamps: Trendy Trees
Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, and Rich Razzleberry card stock
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon.

And now, a girly-girl shirt card......

I told you there would be more of them. I used some Susan Branch paper from my old scrapbooking stash for this one, some Certainly Celery cardstock and some tiny buttons my daughter gave me. I used my Scor-Pal and SU Scallop Square punch to make the white bodice. Stamped sentiment from Hero Arts. Thanks for looking!

Just chilling......

the whole month of June. I only had one stamp class this month. The Grace Stampers came at the beginning of the month and we made Father's day cards and birthday cards.
We made this cute little shirt card from a pattern and instructions on the Scor-Pal site here. Thanks to Cambria Turnbow for sharing this with us. It makes a great guy's birthday card too. I made it for a dear friend's birthday. He is a really snappy dresser so I had to put a gold tie bar with a diamond stud on it. These little shirts are so much fun to make, I think you will be seeing a lot more of them.



Supplies: Stampin' Up's More Mustard and Chocolate Chip cardstock. SU White craft ink. Brown print scrap paper for the shirt and tie. SU Brushed Gold CS for the tie bar. Stampin' Up's Autumn Vine DSP (retired).

The birthday card is very simple. I used SU's Party Hearty stamp set. The papers are Western Sky DSP and Blue Bayou cardstock which are retired. I also used Ruby Red and Naturals White cardstock.

Sorry it has been so long....

since I posted. I have just never gotten into the routine of posting every day. My life is far too uninteresting to find something to talk about every day. My life isn't boring to me, but most people wouldn't be checking eagerly for the next post, trust me.
Something I've gotten hooked on maybe be interesting to some of you. I learned how to make this cute little shirt from a pattern and instructions on the Scor-Pal site here. Thanks to Cambria Turnbow for sharing this with the rest of us. The first card is for Father's Day or for a guy's birthday card. I made it for a dear friend's birthday. He is a really snappy dresser so I had to put a gold tie bar with a diamond stud on it. These little shirts are so much fun to make, I think you will be seeing a lot more of them.



Now let's see if I can remember what I used to make it. Stampin' Up's More Mustard and Chocolate Chip cardstock. SU White craft ink. Brown print scrap paper for the shirt and tie. SU Brushed Gold CS for the tie bar. Autumn Vine DSP (retired)

One more with a big "B"......

I dug out some of my old Stampin' Up! designer paper for this one. The printed paper is from the old Western Sky pack. I made the blue background by sanding some glossy paper and then brayering some Blue Bayou ink on it. The letter "B" is cut and adhered to chipboard using the Big Shot and the San Serif Essentials dies. I used the Word Window and the Scalloped Edge punches. I finished it off by adding some SU eyelets and Kraft ribbon. The birthday stamp in the word window is from Hero Arts. Thanks for looking!