contrition: noun

repentance: deep and genuine feelings of guilt and remorse

CHA is in full swing and I don't mean to offend any of our wonderful manufacturers but there is one who just stands out each time as far as their booth is concerned, So far, no one has ever been able to come close to their designers and that is DCWV. So please take a moment to be wowed by their booth. The video quality isn't as good as their usual, but maybe Erin was tired...understandable, huh? And my FAVORITE  is the peacock! wowzers!



My current challenge is from Frosted Designs where they are having a recipe challenge:

3 pattern papers

2 buttons

1 word title

I was inspired by 2 people. The first one is Amanda from Frosted Designs, but I couldn't get the project she made to link up with her blog, either she didn't blog it or something, not sure, so you have to go to Frosted Designs and look on their page to see the gift bag she made. The second person who inspired me is the person who is getting the gift bag. I'm a bad, bad friend cause I had forgotten her birthday and she is coming up next week to see me so I felt a need to up the game on her  birthday gifting. This is the first bag I have ever decorated but I really, really enjoyed doing it!

I usually don't do a lot of close up shots but I really enjoyed the details this time. First I fussy cut the feather design out and then stickled it. Then I cut 2 hearts pop dotted them, distressed one and coated it with candy crackle, then sewed the 2 together. I cut the crown out of gold material and used matching gems to highlight the crown and made a banner with Jamie's name on it. The bird cage is so far the largest cut I've ever made with my Cricut too and it is also cut from the gold material!

I used my new stamp set I won from Our Daily Designs and loooooooooooove the butterfly. I embossed him in gold and then colored him in with stickles. I used the tip of a needle to spread the stickles into the small areas of the butterfly design.  The hardest part was just waiting for things to dry! I am an impatient crafter ;)



And if you have never used Helmars Liquid Scrapdots then let me be the person to tell you how wonderful this product is! I used it to layer the butterflies and the fantastic part of it is they won't squish down.  I also used it to pop up the felt flower too: since it's a fiber, pop dots could come off but I wanted the smaller flower to have some dimension...so problem solved.

Frosted Designs recipe challenge

paper- Autumn Leaves, and Creative Imaginations

material paper - Me and My Big Ideas

stamp- 2 step butterfly and die ( My Daily Bread Designs )

French Manor cartridge

stickles- cinnamon,lime green, turquoise,lavender

buttons- American Crafts

epoxy letters - Sara Bond

gemstones- Prima, Me and My Big Ideas

Helmars Liquid Scrapdots and 450

floss - DMC and Coronet Braid ( metallic thread )

Ranger Candy Crackle

Now pray with me that I will be forgiven for forgetting her birthday .....and she does occasionally stop by my blog so maybe if she sees how contrite I am and how I slaaaaaaaaaaaaved away at making her gift bag, maybe I'll be forgiven?

pretty please?

Nutella : noun

Is the brand name of a chocolate hazelnut spread. Manufactured by an Italian company, Ferrero and introduced to the market in 1963.

I am feeling so much better today, hardly ANY cold symptoms anymore so I celebrated by doing a little baking. I found this recipe on FB one day, it just popped up and I thought not only did it sound good but it gave me the excuse reason to try Nutella. I have been skeptical about the product but I figured if was paired with marshmallow and pastry, it couldn't be all bad, eh? Go here if you want the recipe, it was extremely easy to make. I did do one thing different, the pastry sheets were a tad sticky trying to move them around on the baking sheet so I sprinkled sugar under them and that helped a lot. And if anyone knows how to spread Nutella better then please let me know, it doesn't spread easily. As you can also see I am a little chicken/rooster happy in my kitchen. Even the red cups you see there come from a pattern called Red Rooster ( made by Metlox and only available from Ebay, they were made around the 1950's...lol..needless to say I have almost entire collection and had to go cold turkey from

 Ebay! But that's another story ! ) Also, the Nutella caramelizes a little if it leaks out of the pocket so just pinch that part off. After they come out of the oven, sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Let me tell you, they are DELICIOUS!! ooey gooey goodness....yum! And huge too, lol On retrospect I would make them smaller if I was serving them to guest but perfect for indulging yourself!

And just to show you how nuts I am, this rooster plate is from a much smaller collection that I picked up when shopping one day at Harry and Davids. So when I want to make myself feel special I pull these out to use...guess I feel real special cause I use them almost every day! lol I actually use to have them hanging on the wall in my kitchen as a display but since I've had to downsize they have moved from the wall to the cupboard, and I am OK with that too! :)

And over at Cards TV, Mary is having a challenge to make a masculine card. And since my brother will be celebrating his birthday in March I decided to make his card. First I was inspired to make a shaped card, the golf cart. Then that expanded to the idea of balloons instead of a golf bag on the back of the cart and then I did something, I've never done before. I was trying to think of a background for the inside part of the cart, and was going through in my head: of the usual ideas, clouds, sky...etc. and went through my sports stash and found a magazine page that I had torn out of a golf course...perfect!

Especially since he is an older man, I didn't want it too look too cutesy so I thought the actual picture of a golf course would be awesome. I'm also going to write inside the card that if he can guess the actual course then I'll buy him dinner. He's such a smarty pants ( big brother, can you tell ?) that he probably will guess it ( rolling eyes ) which is why I am not offering a bigger prize if he gets it right! lol Hopefully it will drive him bonkers trying to figure it out, lol ( little sister, can ya tell ) hee hee

Cardz TV #4 It's a Guy Thing

Mary's stamp set - Make A Wish

Everyday Paperdolls cartridge

stickles

Recollection gems

Reminisce white pen and black pen
Ink it Up!

American Goldfinch: noun

The American Goldfinch is a granivore and adapted for the consumption of seedheads, with a conical beak to remove the seeds and agile feet to grip the stems of seedheads while feeding

aka small birds willing to eat me out of house and home!

Here are 10 of them concentrating on my 2 feeders. They are my source of entertainment today, as I am sitting here on the couch not doing too much. It's raining, and I'm feeling pitiful! Can you tell? I thought my fever broke last night but in reality it didn't. I'm just doing good as long as I'm taking medicine and then soon as I think I'm feeling a little better I stop, and then wham, it's game on again! lol Today I am all about sniffles, sneezing and blowing my nose!  Even the painter who came in today commented on my cold! lol Sorry if that was too much information ;) Anyway you cannot tell the males from the females right now but the males go through a complete molt which means come spring time they will turn a beautiful yellow color and by the looks of it I will have quite a display going on my balcony.

Over at Perfect Sentiments they are having a sketch challenge, so pop on over and play along. Sketches make it sooooo easy! Even when your sick, just follow the sketch, let the cold medicine do the work, and voila, you have a card made! psssstttt ...Normally it doesn't take all day to make 1 card, but considering how I'm feeling, I did good. :)

Perfect Sentiments PSC16 Friendship Challenge 

paper - Heidi Grace

flowers - American Crafts

epoxy letters - Sara Bond

Really Reasonable Ribbon

everything else from my stash

...crawling back into bed to read my Murder a la Mode novel by G. A. Mc Kevett. STILL on the waiting list for Janet Evanovich's Explosive Eighteen. Was 18th in line last I checked...better than where I started out on the waiting list which was 89th! :)

cold: noun

( also known as nasopharyngitis, rhinopharyngitis, acute coryza ) Symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever which usually resolve in seven to ten days, with some symptoms lasting up to three weeks.....and oh joy of joys, I am on day 3..::sigh::

Anyway to brighten my day I dragged myself to my craft table to work on something 'cute'. It helps, it truly does and as long as my fever hasn't changed my perspective I think it turned out well...lol

I had 2 challenges to work with:

Die Cuttin Divas #49 Buttons, Bows, and/or Bling

The Shabby Tea Room #98 Sparkly and Bright
Doodlecharms cartridge

paper - DCWV Shimmer Stack

My Little Shoebox Sprinkle Glaze letters

buttons, ribbons from stash

Now...just to figure out what to put on the inside..hmm...maybe ....stinks? hurts? is a pain in the tush?....uhmmm.....cold medicine must be kicking in...think I need a cup of hot tea and my afghan....see ya'll later...

aaacchhhoooo!

:)

grandeur: noun

The quality or condition of being grand; magnificence

a trip to Biltmore Estate

We started out the day eating at what use to be the stables of the estate. Even the booths looked liked stables, don't they?

 And the decadence began with a Chocolate Covered Cherry, a hot chocolate drink laced with amaretto and bailey's...YUM! I had 2...but I do have a cold and don't they say that a hot toddy is good for a cold? lol Well, that was my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Then a chicken salad topped with dried cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds...oh it was delicious!! Fortified, we went off on our tours! We signed up for 2 of them, the first one was called the Butler's Tour, which took us through all the back passage ways in the house that only the servants used. The picture on the right shows and over view of the back kitchen and only accessed by the staff. To get this picture we are standing on this outside 'deck', which connected the main house to the servants quarters and we are on our way to Ms. Kings rooms, she was the housekeeper who ran the estate! You should have seen some of the cleaning equipment....yuck....glad for my Hoover, all I have to say! I wish I could have taken pictures of the inside of the estate but they don't allow that :( The next tour was some of the rooms on the 3rd floor that held the guest rooms, I loved looking at the shoes and clothing from that time....don't want to wear them, but loved looking at them!

We drove around the land afterwards and got this gorgeous view of the estate behind one of the lakes. And this gorgeous Mallard, who clearly wanted something to eat and we had to disappoint him but I did promise to bring something out for him the next trip!

...and these road hogs who had a line of cars waiting for them to get out of the way, but they were in no hurry and were quite content keeping everyone under the speed limit!

*and to anyone who thinks that maybe you aren't getting any comments lately to your blog, well you may be right, and go here and Unique Crafters has a simple step by step to fix the problem

( that Blogger created btw )

excitment: noun

something that excites, or rouses

 

My birthday is Feb. 22 and I signed myself up for a treat :)

My birthday present to myself!

February 23 - 26, 2012Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center, Newport, TN

If you want to get away and join me, then contact me:

sandeesetliff@yahoo.com

Please put indulge in the subject line :)

 

post script:

There are still some empty seats left, but not many as it is filling up FAST!! Grab 'em while you can girls! ALSO..I have been asked to be a judge for the contest portion of the scrappy week end! woot woot.....just think, me a judge..::goofy smile on face:: I'm also giving away some awesome prizes, tons of CARDS and CRICUT magazines, so be there or be square!!

heartfelt: adjective

Deeply or sincerely felt; earnest

I have been playing more and more with my center point feature on my Cricut. I owned this machine for 4 years and never once used it, now I LOVE it! lol It's amazing how that happens, isn't it?

I am Valentine's Day challenged....there it's been said aloud

Really Reasonable Ribbon's challenge is a Valentine's Day theme...so hum....what to do when your not married, not dating, not anything romantic or lovey dovey smushy crushy bah hum bug....oh...tmi you say? Well I have decided that the only way I'll be able to enter all thse lovey dovey challenges for the next couple of weeks is to find a way to.....deal. OK...so I have my Cricut Card Fairy cards to send out and I can send cards out to other friends who also are in the same unromantic boat as I'm in!

So I made this Cricut Card Fairy card for the family with a 20 month old baby that is going to have heart surgery in February. I hope this doesn't look too much like a Valentine card but I was thinking of focusing on a heart since that's what the surgery is about.

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge

Really Reasonable Ribbon #40 Valentines Day challenge

Really Reasonable January ribbon assortment

stamp - Our Daily Bread Mini Tags 3

Doodlecharms cartridge

Rock Princess cartridge

stickles

and I just found out that my Teddy Bear card won the Stamping in Time Challenge over at Our Daily Bread! woot woot!! If you would like to have a chance to win some wonderful inspirational stamps then bebop over to their blog where they are having a For The Love of Custom Dies Blog Hop and check out their alumni Design Team and all the wonderful creations they come up! You have until Feb. 1st at 6pm to hop and visit!

also

My squirrel card is being showcased over at Die Cuttin' Divas! wow! This has turned out to be a stellar day!! Get squirrely this week end and play along with us! Promise we won't think your nuts! ;)

smile: noun

A facial expression characterized by an upward curving of the corners of the mouth and indicating pleasure, amusement, or derision.

Over at CARDS TV the challenge is to make a summer themed card...and one of my Cricut Card Fairy kids is having a birthday at the end of March so I decided to make her a "green" ice cream cone shaped card, since I always think of St. Patrick's Day in March. :) I hope it makes her smile as shaped cards sure do make me smile!

Frown and you frown alone, but smile and the whole world smiles with you.

I did a little sticker decorating since it's for a kid, they love the extra "happiness". I put some stickers on the inside of the card plus the envelope. Ever see a young 'un get mail? They get so excited so I wanted to make hers extra special to get out of the mail box!

CARDS TV #100 It's June in January

CARDS TV Make A Wish stamp set

Doddlecharms cartridge

assorted stickles

It Takes Two stickers

Sorry I cannot attach the post link for the challenge, but blogger is still not cooperating :( so I had to attach the general blog link, but Mary provides challenge links at the top of her blog so it's not hard to find it!

  

squirrely: adjective

mildly insane

 WOYWD??    I was hoping that taking a picture of from a distance might make it look better....hmmmm..not. Worse probably, as you can see I have spilled over onto the floor and have even resorted to pulling out drawers to use as shelf space...it's a sad state of craftiness!

And I am late in posting this too as I am a sleepy head today and found it hard to get out of bed, I kept drifting back into some.....unusual dreams! Plus it's chilly outside today and it was oh so warm under those covers....::wistfully thinks about going back to bed::....shakes heads, and puts on a determined facade and will do my utmost best to pretend to be productive...yeah....I can do that ;)


Over at Die Cuttin' Divas they have a 'squirrely' challenge going on...lol....squirrel appreciation day!
This is what they wrote, and I quote: "Squirrel Appreciation Day is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate your tree climbing, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels. It's held in mid-winter when food sources are scarce for squirrels and other wildlife. Sure, squirrels spent all fall gathering and "squirreling " away food. But, their supplies may not be enough. And, the variety of food is limited. So, give them an extra special treat today to supplement their winter diets." 

 HA! At my place the squirrels have me well trained, this is the way it unfolds...

They show up on my balcony and begin munching on my suet feeder, and I use to shoo them away. OK, ok..I use to yell at them and clap my hands, I've even been known to go after them with a broom! Well you know the old adage, if you can't beat them, join them? So now they have me well trained, they show up, start eating the suet and I appear at the door with crackers in hand. They then run off the porch and down to the yard below where I toss down crackers that they then grab and run away with!

Here you can see the squirrel at the top with cracker in mouth running away and the bottom squirrel got one too, I just couldn't throw a cracker, take picture and throw another cracker and get them all in the same shot. They move fast once they get their crackers!! lol They are funny too, now that they know the routine, they sometimes go down there and look up at me like.."I'm waiting"...spoiled little buggers!!

And my card made for Die Cuttin' Divas !

Die Cuttin' Divas #48 : Squirrels

Winter Wonderland cartridge

Stretch Your Imagination cartridge

Echo Park paper

floss- silk

metallic pens and chalks

My Little Shoebox sticker letters

and woot woot!! I  just found out that one of my cards made the Customer Card Of The Day over at Our Daily Bread Designs!! wow, talk about exciting!! Guess you never know when someone is stalking visiting your blog, huh? Thank you to ODB for showcasing me!

repetitious: adjective

describes something repeated over and over and over and over and over

....you get the idea ;)

I really, really, REALLY dislike repetitive work. My Christmas cards are not alike no matter how many I need to do, I will do anything to not have to repeat myself. I think I have a short attention span, but also a masochistic streak too because knowing how much I hate doing boring, tiresome crafting I set myself up to make this wreath knowing full well that i was going to spend HOURS wrapping the yarn around and around and around the wreath's form. Ok, maybe I'm feeling a little bit of a drama queen moment but I wanted to make sure you understand my drift ;)

without any more whining  drama, here is my finished wreath...( which I LOVE by the way , lol )

I used my front door rug as my inspiration for the colors, so that we are all matchy matchy :)

a close up of all the stickle goodness, and I love bling on snowflakes!! Oh yes I do!

and a shot so you can get an idea of the dimension that each snowflake has. They are all on floral picks so you can actually pull them off and replace them with something like....errrr.....hearts for Valentines! And the buttons are adhered with Liquid Scrapdots to the snowflakes because after I threaded them with the metallic ribbon they had a bumpy bottom so the LSD helps to adhere something that is uneven.

Fantabulous Cricut #94 Snow Fun

Winter lace cartridge

assorted Stickles

buttons from my stash
Helmars Liquid Scrapdots

fun: noun

pleasure, gaiety, or merriment

 My lucky day! This big boy landed on my balcony to have a little snack. In case you don't know this guy, it's a Pileated Woodpecker, and he's a pretty good size bird. There were actually 2 of them out in the woods this morning, so not only was it the first time I've had one this close but also the first time that I've seen 2 at one time!

Our photography group met this morning in downtown Asheville to focus on assignment which was repetitive shapes. We always have a good time together, laughing and joking around plus taking pictures! We walked up and down alleys and behind buildings to try and find some interesting pictures. This is one of my favorites with the graffiti painted on the window panes.

me ;) taken by my friend Shirley
















...and then we finished up the morning with lunch at the Mellow Mushroom.  Yum!

All in all, it was a very good day!

dreams: noun

a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep

OK, ya'll are going to either think I am whacko or your going to identify with me. It's a 50/50 shot here, but....do you ever dream you are crafting? I have a couple of times and I usually try to re-create whatever it is I had dreamed about. I'm not sure why I think it's important to do so but I just feel like I should. Maybe there is an underlying message for me, I'm not sure. I try and draw it as soon as possible so I won't forget the image, that's important when trying to remember a dream.

This is the card I made:

and the inside of the card:

So what do you think? To dream or not to dream, is that a question? lol

sympathy: noun

the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, especially in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration.

Alot of you know ( if you are a regular visitor ) that I belong to a group called Cricut Card Fairies. Usually the cards that we send out are encouragement, get well or just thinking of you but today it is with a sad heart that I have to do a sympathy card...for a young girl that had a brain tumor and finally lost her battle. It's always hard to make a sympathy card but even more difficult for someone that has lost their child. I cannot even begin to imagine their grief they must be going through.

A new site I discovered ( because someone stopped by my blog and left me a kind comment and I will always try and return the favor by visiting your blog too!) is The Perfect Sentiment and their challenge is creating a sympathy card using this picture for your inspiration. I did not use the blue in the card since I was making this for a young lady but I was inspired by the quietness of the snow, the coldness...the peacefulness of this image.

this is my card:

The card I made has so much symbolism in it for me that I was amazed that all this could be pulled together through challenges. I'm not sure if I could have done this without their help getting me motivated. The pink of course for a girl, the buds on the tree for her youth ( she was 13 ) and the snow for her death.

 

Perfect Sentiments :  PSC14: Inspiration Sympathy Challenge

Moxie Fab Cool Tools Week : Embossing and Debossing challenge

CARDZ TV: The 3 R's

embossing plates - Fiskars

ribbon- Offray

rub on sentiment - Karen Foster

rhinestones - My Minds Eye

flocking powder - Plaid
Helmars Gemstone Glue

 Go hug a family member

monotone: noun

consisting of or characterized by a uniform tone of one color

 This is the third challenge in the Cool Tools Week and it's about using your punches. I used my snowflake border punch across the bottom of my pattern paper and then used some of the negative punches to accent the snowflakes and to carry the theme of falling snow off the pattern paper onto the solid card stock. I am also loving the suede string that I tied across the border, the whole card has a very soft look to it.

Moxie Fab's Cool Tool Week : punch challenge

punch - Martha Stewart snowflake border

paper- Anna Griffin

ribbon - suede Rainbow Gallery

stickles - Ranger, platinum

stamp- Robin's Creative Cottage

Stamp it Up! - Creamy Caramel

Helmars 450

extreme: adjective

Extending far beyond the norm

I have discovered that some people out there are stickle snobs...::gulp::...can you believe it? They don't like the look of them and look down on people that use them. Well, I am just a little country girl ( think Dolly Parton here ) who LOVES blingy things, big hair, and wishes I had big boobs! Well we can't have everything so I am happy that I can have my stickles! I was over on Rangers blog and ran across this the other day and it just put a big fat smile on my face! You gotta watch it, they do have fun over there! Why can't I find a job with creative fun type people? ::sigh::

onto the challenges:

This challenge is to use your cutting tools, I tried to use several different techniques. On the background paper I used a dulled pair of scissors to rough up/distress the edges. I really like this effect and use it quite often. Next, I 'fussy cut' out a snow flake from the same paper using my finger tip knife. I do advise a fresh new blade anytime you plan to cut detailed shapes. Also a favorite thing for me to do is to embellish the cut outs, this one with stickles and a flocked brad in the center of the snowflake. Lastly I took out a dusty pair of of scallop scissors and made a trim to go around the sentiment flag.

A not so used technique anymore!

Moxie Fab's Cool Tools of the Week : Cutting and Trimming Challenge

paper- Creative Imaginations, Snowflake

brad- Little Yellow Bicylce, Girl

Rangers stickles- silver

sentiment rub on - Annie's Attic card kit

floss- Anchor Marlitt

ribbon- Kreinik Metallics

lace- Fancy Pants Icing Ribbon

pop dots, finger tip knife - Fiskars

This challenge is a color challenge using the colors blue, silver and white. I love the mix of these colors but for me they only conjure up 2 themes....Hanuka and snow. So I chose snow as I am really hoping we get some of the fluffy white stuff. I'm not liking the mild winter we have been having, all the plants are going to start budding and then we are not going to have a pretty spring....oh I regress, sorry...anyway, I used the image  from Cricut to create a shaped card and it all came together quickly. I didn't put a sentiment on the front and that way I have a 'generic' card that I can send out to anyone as needed.

Die Cuttin Divas : Challenge #47 Blue, Silver, and White

Winter Wonderland cartridge, p. 32

paper- DCW Shimmer Stack ( silver )

blue paper - misc.

gemstones - Hero Arts

white pen - Reminisce

white rubber mesh, silver cord - Annie's Attic card kit

floss - DMC

Rangers stickles - blue

so how's those New Years Resolutions going?