My teenager and Joy to the World

Before I share my card, I just want to say that in just a couple of hours, I will be officially a mother of a teenager. Happy 13th birthday to my beautiful daughter Gracie, who is smart, beautiful, tough, very helpful around the house (she's our family's main laundry folder), and an amazing young woman who has fierce determination on things she's passionate about and possesses some mad language and flute-playing skillz. God is so good to give her to us.We love you, Gracie, and cannot believe you are now a teen. You have brought us so much joy .We are so proud of you and can't wait to make more wonderful memories in this new stage of our life together. Stay sweet and beautiful, both on the outside and inside.:)

Now, about today's card...you will notice that I use the phrase, "Joy to the world" a lot on my Christmas cards. It sort of sums up the message of Christmas. The coming of Christ has brought joy to the world and it is this why we celebrate! Finally, because the Messiah has come, there is hope, redemption and joy that nothing and nobody can take away. It is this hope and joy only found in Christ that keep everyday life worth living, suffering worth enduring, risk worth taking, and death not quite as scary as it used to be. What a much needed message Christmas is in this crazy world we live in. And what a comfort for me to know the One who is greater than me to trust in and rely on for everyday life.

Can you tell I'm passionate about the Christmas message? I am and want to share that with all my friends and family. Now back to the card, I used my Penny Black Hanging Treasures for this card. The ornament coordinates with Spellbinders' Heritage Ornaments 2011 dies. The sentiment is from Peace on Earth.

I stitched the ornaments on the middles. The background paper is inked on the edges with Distress inks and comes from the Madison Designer paper pad. Sheer ribbon with a pearl brad adorns the ornament. And a strip of Want2Scrap pearls highlight the sentiment.

Have a great week!

Peace and Joy

I have a card for you today using some of my Penny Black designs. First I cut a bunch of circles from the Madison Designer Paper Pad.  You can use punches or the Spellbinders Classic Circle dies. I drew 3 lines in pencil on the cardstock and aligned my ornaments in the middle (not completely precise, but it'll do :) with a little glue on the back. I erased the line and stitched along the middle approximately to make them look like ornaments. I inked the edges of the olive panel with white ink.

I really enjoyed making the banner sentiment, which is from the Hanging Treasures stamp set. I gave it a little lift using foam tape, bent the end so they sort of tucked on the sides of the pane. I then cut the ribbon ends from a separate strip and glued on the back. The pearls are by Want2Scrap that I colored with Copic to match my panel.

Have a great weekend! We'll  have a fun one as we celebrate the birthday of our first ever teenager in the Brackett Home! We will be with a bunch of her friends at a mall for some bowling and dinner. My poor husband will be the only male in the group again. I'm sure we will all have a great time. We will see :).

Walk in Faith

Hello, friends! Today's card was on the Want2Scrap blog the other day and uses one of the Want2Scrap Summer CHA releases, along with some old favorites. I used the beautiful Garden Motif - Silhouette as a backdrop on my card. The gorgeous papers, including the stickers, are by Authentique (Carefree Collection). It coordinates very well with the Want2Scrap dark silhouettes.

The word "Faith" is Want2Scrap's Chipboard Sentiments- Words of Love. I accented it with the bling swirl from B.Y.O.B. 1 Build your own Bling - Donna Salazar Design. the small word stickers are from the Authentique paper collection.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the week!

Want2Scrap Products used:

Garden Motif - Silhouette

Chipboard Sentiments- Words of Love
B.Y.O.B. 1 Build your own Bling - Donna Salazar Design

Cross Promo Products used:
Authentique Carefree Collection

GlueArts Adhesive Squares™ Brand Adhesives-PermaTac

GlueArts U-Cut-It® 4x4

Joy to the World

It's that time again when I have to start mass producing our Christmas cards. Here's a CAS card using some of my new Penny Black stamps, All is Bright and Peace on Earth. I stamped the snowflakes on the kraft card front. I die cut a border strip along the bottom of the Authentique Festive patterned paper using Spellbinders Classic Petal Edgeabilities. I picked this one specifically because with one pass through my Grand Calibur, I end up with two strips!

I used distressed inks on the edges to add to the rustic feel of the card. I'm not very good with this technique (as you can see :), but practice makes perfect, right? Some burlap twine and button is all the embellishment I needed.

I'd better get moving as I have about 150 of these to make. I don't make them all the same as I get bored after a while. I'll be sharing the others later on. Have a great day!

InLinkz.com

Crafty Friends Challenge #7

Happy Sunday! I hope you're having a great day of rest. As a minister's wife, I usually have a busy Sunday. But it's a good kind of busy that involves worshiping with our church family in the morning and enjoying friends' company around the dinner table. It's also a time to catch up with College Football (thanks to ESPN's overseas services!) in the afternoon and some crafty time even. Life is good! :)

Today's card is for the Crafty Friends Challenge. Beate challenged the team to create a Halloween card. We don't celebrate it here, but I love the cute aspect of the holiday. And speaking of cute, I made this using Mabelle RO's Fall Fiby & Lilly set. I colored the adorable cat with Copics. I also used SRM Stickers We've Got Your Borders Halloween for the sentiment, banner and borders along the bottom.

And because we don't celebrate Halloween, I don't have any Halloween papers. So, I grabbed this old October Afternoon papers that have colors to match my banner sticker. I die cut the orange paper using my Spellbinders Edgeabilities Classic Scallop. Some gray twine holds the banner up.

I hope you can join us the next two weeks for the Crafty Friends Challenge and while there, you can check out the beautiful projects of the rest of the team. Have a great day!

Here For You and Winners!

Thank you so much to your kind words about my new TCM stamps, Vintage Clocks. It's now available for purchase at the TCM store. I have another card for you using this set. I love how even with its vintage images, I can create fun and cute cards, as long as I pair them with fun and cute papers and embellishments. I love this set's versatility and that you're not limited to creating the vintage/shabby style with it.

I stamped one of the clock images directly on to the patterned paper. You will find my favorite embellishments here, like lace, button and twine.

I stitched the sentiment in place. I also added stitching on the bottom or the paper strip, just because it looked like it needed it :). The papers are all by October Afternoon

Now, on to the winners of our last Nina B Designs Blog Hop. Thank you for all your kind comments. I hope that you were inspired by all the work put together by the team. 

Prize #1: The winner is picked from Beatriz Jennings' blog... Monica Edwards!

Prize #2: The winner is picked from Jennie Harper's blog...Renee!

Due to the number of prizes being given away on my blog and my dependence on my mom to do the shipping, I have to ask that the winners email (via Contact tab above) me with their info within 4 days (till September 26) in order to claim the  prize. This will help with organization and avoiding confusion. Thanks for understanding! We'll see you on October 14th for the next NinaB Designs Hop!

The Craft's Meow's September Release Blog Hop

The day is finally here! The new September release by The Craft's Meow is now available at the store, including my new set, Vintage Clocks. Welcome to this month's Release Blog Hop. If you came from Mabelle R-O's blog, then you're at the right spot. If not, please check the hop list at the TCM blog so you don't miss out on the giveaway info and links to more inspiration.

Vintage Clocks

6" x 8", $20

Here is my card using the alarm clock image from Vintage Clocks. I had so much fun creating this and coming up with clever sentiments to go with the iconic images. I stamped it directly on the patterned paper. I used my favorite October Afternoon papers again.

I added the stitching on the side because I didn't like it blank. :) The ribbon is pleated then stitched in place.

My second card today uses the Good Times set. I stamped the chevron stamp in two colors to create the border on the right. I just love this sentiment. It will surely bring a smile to any recipient's face.

The leaves were hand cut embossed with Spellbinders' M-Bossabilities. I just love the texture on these leaves.

And don't forget that Golden Days (preview HERE) is the new FREE SET with a $50 purchase!

Now, on to the blog hop prizes...To be eligible to win ALL SIX new sets, you will need to visit & comment on each blog on the hop. The deadline to comment is 9:00pm PDT, Sunday, Sept 23rd. I'm your last stop on the hop, but you can go back to the TCM blog for the hop list. Thank you for joining us today.

TCM Previews: Golden Days and Good Times

Welcome to the last day of previews of The Craft's Meow's September release. Today we're showing two new sets by the lovely Karen Baker, Good Times and Golden Days. I had so much fun with these adorable and trendy images.

I used one of the banners from Good Times as ribbons on my card below. The papers are October Afternoon's Sidewalk.

I embellished it with twine and a paper rose.

I made a fall card using Golden Days, the new FREE with $50 PURCHASE set for this month. Aren't those leaves so whimsical and fun?

I had to "pin" down the leaves with buttons. I love the big sentiments in the set as well, especially this one I used.

Please make sure you check out the TCM blog for more links to inspiring projects and information about the stamp giveaway! And don't forget to join us on the 21st for the Release Blog Hop! In the meantime, feel free to join the NinaB Designs hop going on now. Comment to win till September 21st! Spellbinders dies, The Craft's Meow stamps and retired Layers of Colors stamps are up for grabs. Have a great day!

TCM Previews: Fall Blessings and Fall with Fibi & Lilly

Welcome to day three of The Craft's Meow's September release. Today I have a card using Mabelle RO's new releases, Fall Blessings and Fall With Fibi & Lilly. I love these cute images, especially if you love to color. I used my Copics on my card.

I framed the image with Spellbinders Picot Edge Circle die. The papers are Echo Park and October Afternoon scraps. I "sprinkled" buttons to add interest :).

Please make sure you check out the TCM blog for more links to inspiring projects and information about the stamp giveaway! And don't forget to join us on the 21st for the Release Blog Hop! In the meantime, feel free to join the NinaB Designs hop going on now. Comment to win till September 21st! Spellbinders dies, The Craft's Meow stamps and retired Layers of Colors stamps are up for grabs. Have a great day!

TCM Previews: Lovely Ovals

Welcome to day two of The Craft's Meow's September release. Today we are showcasing Lovely Ovals by my friend, Elizabeta Kushner. I made a simple shabby card using Pink Paislee's London Market papers.

The ovals coordinate with Spellbinders' Classic Oval dies. I embellished my card with a doily, flowers and seam binding.

Please make sure you check out the TCM blog for more links to inspiring projects and information about the stamp giveaway! And don't forget to join us on the 21st for the Release Blog Hop! In the meantime, feel free to join the NinaB Designs hop going on now. Comment to win till September 21st! Spellbinders dies, The Craft's Meow stamps and retired Layers of Colors stamps are up for grabs. Have a great day!