I'm Seeing Dots and So Will You

What's more fun than using a Squigglefly image on a card?  Using TWO!!
I made a Christmas card with two new Squigglefly images.  The one toward the front is from Cheryl Alger, called Christmas Bauble Trouble; the second is called Christmas Tree with Candles & Holly by Pamela Lehto.

I colored both images with Copics. After using Stickles to give her bauble some bling, I used a corner punch on Cheryl's image and framed it onto green cardstock.  I fussy cut Pamela's image of the Christmas tree and adhered it directly to my polka-dotted patterned paper.  Since the new Squigglefly challenge this week is to use Polka dots on your project, I piled it on by adding some dotted ribbon as well.

Ready to get dotty?  Make a project with a Squigglefly image and use polka dots for your chance to WIN!

Today I Am Thankful

Today I am thankful for my grandma. She is 103 years old, God bless her. She is almost blind, deaf in one ear and can’t hear well in the other. She needs help walking, and is very demanding on the phone when something goes wrong and needs fixing (she wants it taken care of NOW). She’s cold all the time so her thermostat is set at 85 degrees (I have shorts and a tank top I leave in my car, even in winter, for extended visits to her house).

But she is so much more than that. She is the woman in the photo at age 19.  She is the woman who crawled around on the ground with me when I was a toddler, who hand-sewed Barbie clothes, and played board games as I grew older . She let us climb her Queen Anne cherry tree and pick the fruit off the tree, sometimes not leaving any to bring back down for her. We baked bread and sweet rolls together, shared family recipes, and she taught me to sew on her Singer (1929 with the knee paddle). I learned how to crochet and needlepoint and make French knots and cross stitches from her. Drive-in movies, Christmas dinners, catching lightning bugs, hugs and kisses and special treats…

Sometimes it’s difficult to bring up that vibrant, laughing woman who reigned as a true matriarch of the family, especially when I see her today in the hospital, confused, scared, not able to stand by herself or take care of personal hygiene. That’s when her legacy really kicks in. When you are loved all your life so unconditionally, you instinctively return that love and care a hundredfold. Just as she held me and washed me and was unendingly patient with me, so I must be with her. Not out of a sense of duty, although she did instill that in me; no, it is out of a sense of unconditional love returned…and a sense of gratitude for all the many years I have had her in my life.

So in celebration of my grandma, I made a mixed media canvas a few months back to remind me that while she and everyone else grows into old age, in my heart SHE is forever young.

What are you thankful for?  Does it inspire you to create with paint or paper or words?  Share your story or your craft with Path of Positivity Challenge Blog.  Show them your interpretation of what being thankful means to you. You can make any sort of project and/or post as long as it is positive in nature and relates to the theme.  Each challenge will be open from the first Monday of one month to the Sunday before the first Monday of the next month. When you link up, leave a comment summarizing what it is about your post that you feel is inspirational / positive / motivational and if it isn't obvious, how it fits with the theme.  A top seven will be chosen by the entire Design Team (DT) and will be posted in a separate post. You will then have one full week to vote on the creation or post that you have found to be the most inspirational of the bunch.

Whether you participate in the challenge or not, everyone needs some positivity in their daily lives, so go take your medicine with a spoonful of sugar and you'll feel better immediately!!

Squaring Off on the Christmas Card Front

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  I know, I know, it's only October!  But...November is tight around the corner, and you know how fast the days fly!  That's why when I read that the Squigglefly Challenge this week was to make it square-make a square card or use square-shaped embellishment.

My card is square-shaped, as well as showcasing several square-shaped patterned papers and a sentiment framed in a square.  I used a November new release from Squigglefly called Candles Angel by the very talented Pamela Lehto.  I colored Pamela's image with Copics.

I kept my embellishments down to a few rows of jewels, since there are a lot of patterns on my card.  And I think the jewels are enough, as they play into the silvery circles on the black patterned paper.

You can play in Squigglefly's new challenge, and make any card you desire--just use a Squigglefly image and "make it square!"  One random winner will get to choose a free digi!! Need some inspiration?  Check out the Squigglefly Facebook page.

Good luck and Happy Crafting!

Stanley Scarecrow Has Stamina

Now that the weather has finally turned chilly, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving.  So I was in the mood to make an autumn card.  I used a Squigglefly digi image called "Stanley Scarecrow" by artist Fawn Palmer. 

I colored the image with Copics and set him off with a little green at his feet.  My card base was made using leftover cardstock which had a negative cut of a pumpkin, in which I framed my card's message.

I used a shiny yellow button for the sun, and added some jeweled flourishes, butterflies, a bow and some freehand doodles to embellish my card.  Even the adhesive stitches at the top were found in my leftover stash container.  

As for my message, who has the most stamina in the Fall?  A scarecrow, of course!  All day and night in the fields with no complaints!! LOL

I'm entering my card in the Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge this week,  The requirement is to use a pumpkin!!  If you haven't discovered the crafting social network yet, you should check it out for inspiration, resources and challenges!!

Falling for Carmen Gamble's Images from Squigglefly

Fall, finally!!  Today was partly cloudy, raining lightly, and a definite chill in the air, finally!!  It's the middle of October, and up until yesterday, we were wearing short sleeves and running our air conditioner at work, and today I wore long sleeves, finally!!

So in celebration of cooler days, falling leaves and apple cider, I made a tag for the Squigglefly Challenge blog.  The image is a Squigglefly digi by artist Carmen Gamble.  It's called Christmas Mouse, and she originally had a tail to which mistletoe was tied, and two little birds were kissing under it. However, her Christmas look didn't match my Fall tag, so I snipped her tail and the birds out of the scene.  Easy peasy with digi's!  Doesn't she look ready for Fall on my tag?

Check out the new releases for October at the STORE, and come play in the new challenge.  It's to make a card that uses leaves or trees and leaves, autumn or fall theme in the image or embellishments OR create a card that shows travel as in LEAVING home and going on a trip like camping, travel, vacation!

My Heart is in My Art

Ink colors my fingers,

And glitter coats my hair.

My craft room’s like a crime scene

With Copics everywhere.

I seem to’ve lost my scissors

I should clean, but where to start?

It really doesn’t bother me

‘cause my heart is in my art.

For Aunt Sandy and Too Many of My Friends

We Walk with Hope     by Pat Martin

In early morning we gather.

We smile.

We stretch.

We pray.

We walk.

A thousand hearts pounding in our chests.

A thousand bodies sweating in the sunshine.

Two thousand feet kicking up dust and gravel.

We walk.

As the day wears on, we hear stories.

Her Aunt Ginny, her sister Pat,

We tell our own.

My best friend Sandy, our neighbor Edith.

We pray some more.

We walk.

Cars honk in support as they pass us.

Pedestrians wave and cheer us on.

Mostly it's quiet.

Evening is drawing near.

We walk.

Two days,

40 miles,

We pray.

We hope.

We walk.

Never let health take a back seat in your life.

Never let bad news freeze you in your tracks.

Keep walking with Hope in your heart.

Challenges I Entered:

Path of Positivity Challenge Blog - HOPE

Outlawz Saturday Paper ala Mode Color Challenge - (Pink for Pat)

The Craft Place Challenge Blog - Think Pink