A New Challenge!

This is the second post for the day, so click here if you would like to see what I did for Tracy's sketch challenge!

I can never resist a new challenge! My friend Kelley is part of the design team for this challenge, Everything But the Kitchen Sink, and I have wanted to play along but it seems like it started right around the time that I started to not feel well. My intentions were there, but I just wasn't able to do it, UNTIL NOW! Yay!

Well , here is my card, this is actually the second card I have made today for a challenge. It must be like some 5 month record for me! I have a MILLION things I could be doing, like making my family dinner, or finishing up my scrap calendars that need to go out in the mail tomorrow, but this is way more fun!

Usually color combinations come to me really easily, and it's the layout of cards that I struggle with the most, but for some reason, colors have been really tough for me lately. Perhaps its this cold I have foggin' up my brain, or the never-ending list of stuff I need to get done for Christmas, I don't know.

Okay, so enough babbling...here's my card!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Now I'm off to make dinner for the gang!

Supplies: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, and Taken with Teal CS (SU); Taken with Teal, Old Olive inks (SU); Great Friend Stamp set (SU); Fiskars Border Punch, Chocolate Chip 5/8 grosgrain ribbon (SU), Chocolate Buttons (PTI); Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Sketchy Thursday #64

Whew! I think I just made it! I had wanted to make a card for Tracy's sketch challenge this week, and have had this idea in my mind, but I don't know where the time went! I promised myself this year, that the craziness of the season wouldn't get the best of me, but here we are with just over a week to go, and I feel like I have so much left to do! Anyone else feel that way?

And the fact that the kids are out of school this Friday, makes things even more crazy! I'm trying to come up with loads of fun activities that we can do next week where we don't have to go out and brave the traffic and the crowds.....perhaps we'll just go swimming at the Y a bunch! And make sure we have a bunch of good Dukes of Hazard re-runs around!

Well, here's my card, it's a little simpler than I had planned on it being, I wanted to be able to see more of the flower, but oh well!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Hope you all are doing well and surviving the Christmas season!

Supplies: Kraft, Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip CS, (SU); Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red Inks (SU); Cheery Chat & Fabulous Flowers Stamp sets (SU); Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (SU); Buttons (PTI); Chocolate Chip 1 1/4 striped ribbon (SU)

I shouldn't have made this card right now.....

but I really needed a little down time, and this seemed to be the key for relieving my stress for the moment....the irony is, though, that by taking the time to make this card, I'm going to be crunched for time later, and highly stressed out by this evening I'm sure! But Oh, well, I thoroughly enjoyed my few moments of craft time here this morning!

I love color challenges, so I just couldn't pass up Dawn's Raspberry Suite Challenge! Here are the colors she gave! What fun!

I had wanted to use some buttons on the card as well, but when I got the card to this point, I just didn't know if the buttons were going to work out! Anyway, here is the card as I first made it:

And here is the card after adding some buttons....I am so indecisive, it's sickening! What do y'all think? With or without the buttons? I am now off to get the rest of my stuff done for the day....we have a huge weekend filled with all sorts of events and family gatherings.....I hope I can make it through all of it....and to top things off, I woke up sick this morning! I hate colds!!! Especially when you're pregnant, cuz ya can't take the good stuff that really works!!! Oh well!

Hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Some tags....

Hi!

Just wanted to share a few Christmas tags with y'all! These were some that I came up with for my card class last week. I don't know when, but a couple years back someone wanted to make fancy tags, so for my December card class, we do half the amount of cards, and them make gift tags too!

I finished my Christmas cards this past weekend, and got them in the mail Monday! Yay! The only thing is, I didn't make them this year, and I'm still feeling bad about that! Well, I made about a dozen, but that was all! I don't think I've sent a store bought card in like 5 or 6 years! Something must have told me last year when I picked up a boatload of cards on clearance at Target last year, that this year I just wasn't going to have the time or energy to do them myself!

Slowly I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can't do everything and be everthing to everyone all the time. For those of you who know me, know this is a REALLY tough concept for me to grasp. I am horrible at saying NO. (Except to my kids!) For some reason, I think I really needed to learn this lesson, and that's why I think I've had such a tough pregnancy this time around. I've had to say no to a lot of things, and have had to rely on people, neither of which I am good at....but I'm getting better!

I hope all of you are enjoying this magical time of the year! I love Christmas. Love it with all my heart! I hope that in the midst of all the craziness and turmoil that this time of year can bring, that you all are able to step back and enjoy the peace and joy and hope that is there!!!

Thankfulness, Joy, and be merry.....

Warning: this post is a little lengthy, but well worth it, and there is a card at the end.....

Yesterday was a bad day? Ever had one of those? I was so grumpy, I didn't even want to be around myself, it was ugly. But thankfully, I woke up this morning in a much better disposition. I think I will be able to handle being around myself today!

I know that we're past Thanksgiving, and quickly approaching Christmas, but I've really been thinking a lot lately about all the things I am thankful for and for all the blessings I have in my life. There have been a few things lately that have happened around me or to people I know, that has caused me to step back and really focus on the things that matter most in my life: my relationships with my family and friends. I am so grateful to be surrounded by people in my life who love me and graciously put up with me.

I don't know if y'all have heard about the terrible tragedy that occurred near where I live, where a man walked into a coffee shop and opened fire on some police who were there, leaving 4 officers dead, and 4 spouses and 9 children without their parents, husbands and wife. Losing a parent at a very young age as a child, my heart just breaks and goes out to these families, especially the children hit so hard by this devastating occurrence.

Another thing that has got me thinking lately is the situation surrounding my friend Kelley, she very recently discovered that she had cancer and underwent a radical surgery on Monday to eradicate it from her body. The reports have come back looking great, and I'm sure it is a huge relief to her and her family to have been able to catch the cancer so quickly. Many prayers were offered on her behalf and I'm know that had a huge bearing on what happened.

So why do I bring all these things up? I know I have kept this blog mostly light and fluffy, but there are certain things that I just felt prompted to share with all of you. Life is precious. You can never predict what life will hand you. Love your family. Tell each person in your life how much they mean to you. Hold your children (if they'll let you), and remember why it is you love them so much, even when they drive you crazy!!! Live each day as if it were your last. Don't leave important things unsaid to the people you care about the most.

Lastly, I just wanted to say how very thankful I am to live in this incredible country. I am so thankful for all of those who have gone before me and risked EVERYTHING to secure my freedom. I have family members and close friends who have or who are currently serving in our military, and for this I am truly grateful. I am thankful for the families who stand by and spend great amounts of time including holidays away from their loved ones, so that I might be allowed to celebrate and worship and enjoy the freedoms I take for granted so much.

I do have a card to share with you today, as well! This is one of the cards I had at card class last night. Again sorry for the yucky photography, hope y'all can see the card! I'm currently working on resolving these issues!!! I had some fun gift tags for everyone to make as well, but I'll post those later!

Thank you for those of you who have made it through this entire post, you deserve a medal!

Amanda

A little bit of Sketchy Thursday

Hi!

I know what y'all are thinking....2 posts in 2 days.....it's a festivis miracle! Yup, I can't believe it either....but if I really want to get technical, yesterday's didn't really count cuz it didn't have a card.

But I do have a card to share with you today! I have so very much missed regularly playing along with Tracy's Sketchy Thursday sketch challenges....and so now that I'm finally starting to get back to life as normal, I'm hoping that I will be able to play along quite often.

With that said, when I saw the sketch she gave for this week, I totally had this awesome card in my mind, the problem is that once it made itself into a physical representation in paper, it didn't really live up to the beautiful perfection I had in my mind....does that ever happen to any of you?

But, it's growing on me, and although I know these aren't traditional Christmas colors, they are one of my favorite Christmas combinations.....a friend of mine has a Christmas wreath, that has all these turquoise, blue and olive green ornaments on it, and it is absolutely stunning!!!

You'll have to excuse the bad photography....I'm going back to my regular camera....my "bad boy" as I call it.....I had just been using my little point & shoot, but thought I would get better pics with my old one, problem is, that I haven't' used it in a long time, and I think it's going to take some practice.....that and I think I want to make a light box as well, but that's a whole separate issue to tackle....I think I'll try to get through Christmas first!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Amanda