Grateful, that's me!

Hi everyone! Can you believe Thanksgiving is over? And we're almost into December? Yikes! We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving at my house. . . the food was SO good! My sister sorta deviated from the usual sweet potato thing we do (that would be fried with salt, pepper and sugar. . .delish!) and brought this sweet potato casserole thing with a brown sugar/pecan crumble on top. OH MY WORD!!! Can you just imagine how happy I was that I had hosted Thanksgiving and all (ALL) the leftovers were staying at my house!?!?!?!?! :-) Naughty, but very good planning on my part!

Well, I've got a beauty of a card to share with you. It's one of a few thank you cards I've sent out recently. Let me tell you, God has really blessed me with some amazing people who encourage, uplift and love me! I thought I would try out some of those Tic Tac covers I saw on Splitcoaststampers and made them to match the card. . . hope you enjoy!

Blog candy. . .

Isn't blog candy fun?!?! Well, actually I don't know for sure because I've never won any, but I'm thinking it's got to be a blast to get free stuff! :-) Anyway, I know someone who's giving some away. . . Erika over at Erika Designs is having an A Muse blog candy offering. . . head over and see what's up! Oh, and while you're there, check out her different posts for some of her pictures! She's an aspiring photog and really, really good! :-) Have fun!

See, I really have been busy!

I got to thinking the other day that I must really be a slacker! I haven't updated my blog with any cutesy stuff in quite a while nor have I uploaded to SCS. Then I realized it's not me being a craft slacker, just a blogger slacker. "Hi, my name is Cheri. I'm a blogger slacker". :-) Just as a little side note here, from all the blogs I check out that have posts that start like this: "No, I'm not dead, I've just been. . . ", I KNOW I'm not gonna be alone at the Blogger Slacker Anonymous meetings! Anyhow, on to the fun stuff. . . I bought some paper at Michaels after Christmas last year. It was 90% off. So, in other words, one mat stack wasn't enough. I bought FOUR BIG, IDENTICAL MAT STACKS!!!! In all fairness, that made them about $1.00 a piece and the paper really can be used for other than Christmas stuff, so I guess it wasn't all that bad of a splurge! Well, I got some out and thought I would make some cards for my upcoming sales. Here's the first two: These are fun little kickstand cards complete with Fun Flock on the "J" stocking. Now that I'm thinking about it, they sure could use a little bling here and there. Time for some glitter! And here are the next two with the same paper:

See what I mean about the paper? It could be used for a lot of different things! These cards have dimensional glaze on the ornaments so they look glassy and a little rhinestone up by the "merry". And here is the last poor lonely card that didn't get a mate:

This card has my first try at freehand doodling around the border. What do you think? I think it's kind of fun! Okay, so there you have my first installment of proof that even though I haven't posted, I have been having fun!!!! Enjoy and have yourself a wondrous day!

The Tag Finally Found Me!

Hi all,
It's been a bit crazy around here lately. . .I've been trying to get ready for craft sales. . . had two this weekend. They went okay, but not superb. I have another one coming up in December and am going to revamp my inventory and how I display it. Hopefully that will help! The best fun part of it is that my mom is a painter and is doing these sales with me, so even if I don't make any money, I sure have fun chillin' with my mama! (Hi Mom! Am I your favorite now?!?!?!) Anyway, no card to show today, but Melissa over at Stamp It, Scrap It, Share It tagged me so I thought I would rack my brain for seven interesting things to say about myself. Okay, on to the dirt! :-)

1. I really can touch my nose with my tongue. (Don't think about that one too long, it'll freak you out!)
2. I was born in the wrong era. I want to be Anne of Avonlea and live at Green Gables.
3. I took two years of Spanish in high school and only remember the swear words. Not even sure how I learned them. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Yeager never covered that!
4. I lived in an Eskimo village on the Yukon River in Alaska.
5. My sister calls me Cherbyface. Come to think of it, I'm not sure where that came from either.
6. I don't like dogs. At all.
7. Someday I want to live on a farm and have my very own horse to ride. No dogs though.

So that covers me. . . and since I KNOW I'm the last to be tagged, I'm not sending the tag on. . . did you just heave a big sigh of relief?!?!?!? :-)
Okay, gotta run. . . time to head to swim practice!

I would chortle if I was the type to do that sort of thing. . . .

Okay, these Thanksgiving stamps from Missy B Designs are just cracking me up! The set, Fall Fun, comes with four different turkeys and five different sentiments. But the fun part comes when you take a look at some of these turkey's faces. For instance. . . check out this little guy. Just sitting there in the stew pot. Like turkeys do that every day of their lives! It made me laugh (chortle, if you will) so I just had to type up my own sentiment and add it to the card!

Hope it gets you laughing too!

And the Winner is. . .

Oh, for pete's sake! I've been watching my little counter go up day by day and thought that it would be such a fun thing to do a little blog candy when my number of visitors reached 1000! Now I know 1000 isn't all that much compared to some of these craft blogs out there, but doggone it! I'm pretty proud of that milestone! So while I've been pondering what to do for blog candy, my number creeped up and up and finally I decided to pop in and check out where I was. And guess who lucky number 1000 was. Yep. Me. And here I was trying to be SO careful NOT to be the one to win the blog candy!! I guess some things were just meant to be! Unfortunately (tee hee), under the circumstances, I just don't see any other solution. . . I'll have uphold my end of the intended offer and go get myself that blog candy prize!!!! (Okay. Seriously. Isn't that just the lamest excuse for going out and buying more craft stuff!?!?!?! Lame. . . .but I love it!) Anyhow, to all of you who have visited my blog and to those who actually subscribe--THANK YOU! YOU make MY heart happy each time you visit and each time you comment! So, shall we start planning NOW for the 1500 mark candy? :-)

Thinking, editing, getting ready to publish, the author is overcome with guilt and offers up this consolation prize. . . .

How about some eye candy? :-) It's craft show season and I'm getting some little pretties ready to go. This is my current favorite:

This little guy is a metal strip with magnets on the back so it can stick to your fridge, filing cabinets, etc. Each of the little flowers is a magnet as well so you can use it as a note holder, picture holder, whatever. ISN'T THIS SO CUTE?!?! What do you think? Would you buy it at a craft show? Especially if it cost under $5? Let me know what you think!!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Don't you just think FALL gives Christmas a run for it's money as the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?!?!? I LOVE FALL! The leaves are absolutely stunning here! When I moved to Oregon (wow! 18 years ago now!) I was amazed to see red leaves on the trees at fall time! Don't get me wrong. . .Montana, my home state, is gorgeous beyond reason, but I so stunned by the beauty of the trees here in Oregon! And that, of course, leads me to the truly sad part of fall: harvesting all the vegies and having our once thriving garden reduced to a mud patch. It's sad to see our garden go, but check out this photo. . . .

Our final, lone tomato and delicata squash right along with ALL THOSE WALLA WALLA ONIONS AND BASIL!!!!!! Yumm!! We even scored a couple of raspberries and strawberries before the rain started to fall! Delightful! I was so thrilled with all of this, I had to head inside and ink up my cute, cute Vegibella stamp. If you haven't gotten a Bella stamp yet, you so should! I think they are the very funnest stamps to paper piece! Check out her demin overalls. . .

Well, folks, that's all for today. . . except this. . . . .have a wondrous, blessed fall day and don't forget to stop and enjoy the colors!

Just for total and complete fun!

Okay, in the world of card making, I have to say that it is really, really easy to get caught up in doing all the challenges: sketch challenges, color challenges, technique challenges. I 've been doing some of those lately primarily to learn more, practice more and be a better card maker. Somewhere along the way, however, I've found that it is really easy to make cards for the challenges only and not just because you wanna have fun. . . yeah, girls just wanna have fun! Oooh, does that take you on a frightening flashback to the 80's?!?!?! :-) Well, this next card kind of originated as a challenge. I went into my local stamp shop, Stampin' Cat Studio, and found a fun little challenge: you had to use this black and white gift wrap paper somewhere in your card. Well, thinks me, I have just the stamp to go with that paper!!!!! And suddenly, with my little Hambo skunk stamp, this went from a challenge to making a fun card just because I LOVE PEPE LA PUE!! So, here is my "just for fun" card. . . hope it finds you having a fun day too!

You are SO gonna want some of these stamps!!!

Okay, one night I was perusing different blogs. . . dreaming of the day my little blog will ARRIVE. . . .okay, what I was really doing was neglecting my poor little blog and dreaming of all the stamps that I ABSOLUTELY NEED!!!!! And in the midst of the dreaming, I find a treasure! And I mean a FUN treasure! Have you heard of Missy B Designs? Was I the last one to find them?!!?!?!? Okay, focus! Melissa Barstow, aka Missy B, has some seriously cute, cute stamps! So, I ramped up my courage and emailed her. The conversation went something like this. . . "I like your stamps! I LOVE your stamps! Can I please, please, pulleeze, design for you?!?!?!" Much to my complete delight, she emailed me back and said "YES"!!!!!! And that, my friends, leads me to this little card. . . When I saw that Melissa had sent me this duck set, I was so happy! This little guy on the end reminds me of someone in my family. Hmmmm. . . must be my sister! :-) Anyway, check out this little fun family and then head on over to Missy B Designs and GET SOME!! Great stamps, awesome prices and wonderful fun await you!!!!

We are SO trying this again. . . .

I have to say, the card I did for Julee's Mojo Monday challenge just wasn't doing it for me. I think I've narrowed the offending aspect down to the frayed edges around the card. Just doesn't fit somehow. Anyway, before I figured that out, I decided to just give the whole Mojo challenge another try. I LIKE THIS ONE SO MUCH BETTER!!!! Is it because I'm really into Bellas? Is it the microbeads that just "speak to me"?! (I sorta doubt it because seriously, how many microbeads have EVER talked to me?!?!?!) I digress. I think it might be the sentiment. . . . love it! It's one of the way hysterical stamps that come from River City Rubberworks. Check them out--they have the funniest sentiments! So, here we go with my Mojo Monday Cruisabella card with a special shoutout to Melissa Craig for the awesome Cruisabella images she so kindly shared with me!!! Thank you SO much!

Mojo Monday

Hi all! Well, it's time for my first Mojo Monday sketch! Julee at Poetic Artistry does this challenge every Monday and she really comes up with some good sketches! She specifically designed the sketch to make use of those stamps that are a little longer. . . like these beautiful cherry blossoms. I wish you could see all the glitter and shine this card has in real life but you'll just have to use your imagination! It's got gold embossing and glitter (bling, bling, bling! :-) )

Enjoy the card and head over to Julee's blog and try out the sketch yourself! If you do, leave a comment for me with a link--I'd love to see it!

So Not a Rocker!

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, on the recommendation of Amy over at Heartfelt Greetings , I bought the Rock King Mat Paper Stack by DCWV. Now I should certainly mention that I am not really a fan of rock music; I don't own one item of grunge type clothing; I have nary a tattoo on my body. . . get the picture?!?!?! But, Amy got it and dang, she can work magic with just about anything! (If you don't believe me, go check out her Scrap Stash Saturdays feature on her blog!) Anyway, I thought I would give a try too! And let's be honest, not everyone likes froo-frooey-pretty-girl cards, right? So I bought the mat stack and of course, since all my froo-frooey-pretty-girl flower stamps don't go with the paper, I HAD to buy Rhonda Farrer's Gypsy Style stamp set. (Vicious cycle, this card making business!) Last night I got out the paper, the stamps, the ribbon, the embellishments, the EVERYTHING, and tried to make a grungey rock card. The end result? I've decided that I'm like the Laura Ingalls of card making. I just can't do grunge. I tried four different cards with this stuff! So, this is what I ended up with. What do you think?

Oohing and Aaahing over a couple things. . .

Today I got to sit outside with my mom, sister and mother-in-law while we visited, ate tiny, sweet tomatoes right off the plant and watched the kids splash in the pool. All the while, the sun beamed down on us, the breeze cooled us and the smell of autumn delighted us! Isn't it wonderful after a hot summer when you begin to smell fall, feel the cooler air and see the wonderful changes in colors from brights to oranges, yellows and browns?!!?!? I adore fall! Today was truly a blessing!

So here is what I've been having fun with lately. . . these tiny, little tins from Target! Perfect size for gift cards, chocolates, teabags, coffee beans and biscotti. . . . you get the idea! The possibilities are endless! And not only that, but they are really, really affordable! Check out the dollar bins at Target! They are a treasure trove of goodies! They are so simple to make. I just use double stick tape, paper of your choice to cover, ribbon on the handle and then stamp and embellish to your hearts content! So go get some! And when you've decorated yours, send me a link or email. . . I'd love to see it! Enjoy fall time and blessings to you! Cheri

It is a Thing of Beauty!

Okay, if you are totally anti-Martha Stewart, you probably won't be at all impressed with this post. If, however, you have even a smidgy of kitchen diva in you. . . .check out this picture! I spent this afternoon (yes, this HOT HOT afternoon) canning tomato sauce. I used Beefsteak tomatoes that my 5 year old son has been growing in his garden, fresh basil and oregano from our herb patch and some big ole fatty chunks of sweet Walla Walla onions. Man, you should have smelled my house this afternoon! Deeeee-licious! I ended up with 12 pints and 7 half-pints. . . one more afternoon like this and we'll be set for winter. Hope today found you doing something you love! Happy Hot Labor Day!!

I Should NOT be Laughing!

Okay, it is so not cool to laugh at other's misfortune, I really do get that! But when a friends calls and tells you about a most unfortunate incident AND asks if you will make a card to commenorate it, you just HAVE to help out, right?!?!?! Anyway, it isn't really ME laughing, it's HER! (Okay, now that I've relieved my guilt, let's get on to the good stuff!) So, my good friend calls me the other day and tells me that her niece, on her very first day of school, goes to the cafeteria for lunch and eats a hamburger. Soon after, though, she begins feeling sick and throughout the day gets sicker. .. . and sicker. . . .and sicker. . . . until finally, in her last class of the day, loses it and throws up all over the place. Ewww! Anyway, her aunt calls and asks if I'll make a card to encourage her-slash-make light of the incident. What an awesome aunt, huh? The only stipulation was that it had to have a hamburger on it. So, here's an ADORABLE (bragging here!) little gem that will soon be on its way to a very brave freshman, who, despite a rough start, will undoubtedly do just fine in high school!