The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge #85

 Hello! This will be our last challenge for 2020 and as always it's an anything goes challenge. I saw that video by JM and paused it to purchase these memory box dies... I love the shadow box look. I used some alcohol inks on glitter paper for the background. I hope you all have a wonderful and healthy holiday season , may 2021 be much better for us all. 

CC&S #400

 Hello! Well we made it to the final challenge of 2020.. let's get this year over please. For this week's challenge we are revisiting either a previous sketch or colour challenge and making it a Christmas card. I went back to challenge #378 for these colors. I love this layered tree die from Pretty Pink Posh, I made it in a few colors . I hope you all have a healthy and happy holiday season and that 2021 is better for us all. 

CC&S #399

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I have still been hard at work on Christmas cards (sold more of what I made to send out) , still have a  ways to go. I really liked working with these soft colors this week. Thanks for stopping by. 

THAIC #84

 Greetings! I hope you are all well and healthy. We are planning a quiet Thanksgiving holiday with just myself , hubby and our sons (just those in our house) . I need to get busy making more Christmas cards as I once again sold all of my cards I've made this year..... I knew this would happen and should have planned better. Please joi us for another Anything goes challenge. Thanks for stopping by. 

CC&S #398

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well since last week. I once again sold all of the Christmas cards I made throughout the year (on a Christmas card DT also) ... this happens to me every year and then I'm scrambling to get mine made and out in a timely manner. So no matter the challenge I'll be making a Christmas card. I used a stencil for the trees and snow on the trees , some white splatters and then the sentiment is Gina K. Simple and easy to mass produce. Thanks for popping in today.

CC&S # 397

 

Hello! I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy in your part of the world. As you may know I live very close to Chicago, which just went back to a very strict lockdown . This has caused people to panic buy again. Since I'm so close to the border our stores have been hit pretty hard. I was exposed at work and went to be tested , the place forgot to send in my test and now I won't have any results until today.... almost a week later when I was told healthcare workers would have them in 2 days. In the meantime I've cleaned out a ton of closets and purged lots of stuff. The card was made using the Taylored Expressions beautiful baubles stamp and stencil set. Thanks for stopping by today. 

THAIC #83

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well today. I made 2 versions of the same card. One with silver embossing and the other gold embossing , as well as different color shimmer power backgrounds. These were very easy to do , I embossed the snowflakes and then sprinkled on some nuvo shimmer powers , then spritzed with water and let them sit. I love how they turned out and wanted to share both cards. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #396

 Hello! I hope you are all doing well and healthy. I've been trying to finish fall clean up in my yard while we had a few unexpected days in the 70's here in the Chicago area.. the temperatures have broke decades long records here this week. I've had this Stamptember exclusive stamp for awhile and really wanted to use it... this sketch works great.  I hope you will join us. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #395

 

Hello! I hope you all are doing well today. It's my son's 16th birthday today. He was born in an election year and hubs and I watched the election returns from labor and delivery while we awaited our 2nd child"s arrival. We were very anxious, he was due 12/15.. so just a bit too early. He was a decent weight (5lbs and 19 inches long) but was having difficulty breathing on his own. A few minutes after he was born he was taken by ambulance to another hospital ( the one I delivered at had no NICU, and I only went for a routine test) and 2 days later he took a life flight ride to another hospital in Chicago... scary times. That baby is now and happy healthy 6'3 kid. So this election year (for those of us in the states) remember while you might be anxious things won't always be that way. ..So now on to the card.... all stamps and stencils are from Taylored expressions. I'm working on Thanksgiving cards now, because as the numbers go up again I wonder if we will get together with family for Thanksgiving.. so I need to have plenty of cards to send out. Thanks for stopping by today. 

The Holly and Ivy #82

 Hello! I hope you are all doing well. I wanted to use the wreath stamp again , but I needed to make it look different from the other one I made with this stamp. Check back a couple challenge to see the other one. This time I used black watercolor paper and metallic watercolors. I love how this turned out. It was really easy and I plan to make several. I hope you will join us for another "anything goes" challenge. Thanks for stopping by. 

CC&S #394

 Hello! I hope this week finds you all doing well. It snowed here today, just a few flurries. but it snowed. Our new fellow at the office is from California and had never seen real snow before, while we were all groaning about it , he was like an excited little kid. That inspired my use of snowflakes on this week's sketch. I hope you will play along with us at CC&S.

CC&S #393

 Hello! I hope you are all doing well. I have been working on getting fit... yep I've been exercising ALOT!  I had been taking yoga for years and wasn't seeing any results, so I switched to aqua bootcamp and for the last 6 weeks I've been in the pool 6 days a week. I'm tired... but starting to see results. So tired or not I'll keep going. I needed to do something, because let's face it corona is depressing and I was getting very depressed. It has also saved me some $$ as I'm too tired to craft everyday, so I haven't bought a lot of new things...some new things just not as many as usual. hehe. The snowflake stencil and the sentiment are from TE. This card was a quick one to make and I plan to make several more in various colors. Thanks for stopping by. 

The Holly and Ivy #81

 Hello! I hope you are doing well today. I've been busy trying to get my card stash built back up, I sold almost all of my cards as a FB fundraiser to help my friend with cancer. So now I need to make a whole bunch. I loved this branch because I think by changing the leaf and berry colors I could make it a fall or spring card too. I have been trying to buy products that have more uses lately. Thanks for stopping by today, please join us for our "Anything goes " challenge. 

CC&S #392

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well today. I used some leftover pieces from a previous card I made using these dies from the greetery. I am a fall fan , so I love fall leaf stamps or dies and this one is my current favorite. I used a TE stencil and sentiment and added some gold splatters to finish it off. I hope you will join us for this week's sketch challenge. Thanks for stopping by . 

CC&S #391

 Hello! I hope you are doing well. My allergies are really causing some discomfort right now. My son had one of his cross country meets over the weekend and all the kids running through the field kicked up all those things that bother my allergies. It gives me an excuse to stay indoors and craft... so I guess it's not too bad. I wanted these week's colors to be the stand out on this card, so I kept the embellishments to a minimum. Thanks for stopping by today.  

THAIC #80

 Hello! I'm back with another card to share for our Anything goes challenge. I was inspired by a card made by Debbie Hughes using this stamp. I loved how her card looked, mine isn't as fabulous. Who inspires you? I hope you will join us and play along. 

CC&S #390

 Hello! I hope you are all doing well. I had a relaxing weekend, was able to get some cards made. I also went with my hubby to visit. a local animal sanctuary . We were able to walk around with cows, mini horses, goats, pigs , sheep, emus, a llama and donkeys. It was really enjoyable and I learned that cows LOVE pumpkins. The owner had pumpkins growing all over the farm and the cows would come running when the saw her carrying one. She broke one open and gave pieces the cows, I never knew cows loved pumpkins. So now on to my card... I might be pushing it with this take on the sketch, but I really wanted yo use this new floral stamp. Thanks for stopping by. 

CC&S #389

 

Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I am playing with some new supplies that arrived today. I flipped the sketch , I liked it better this way. I used the birthday candle stencil from TE. I am currently on a stencil kick... I love them all. Thanks for stopping by today. 

The Holly and Ivy Christmas card challenge #79

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I've been trying to re-organize my craft space as it has become too cluttered to work in lately. I gave a bunch of stuff to my friend , so I'm slowly getting it better organized. I forgot I had this stamp, so I wanted to use it this week. I am trying to only purchase stamps I will get more mileage out of lately. I plan to use this again with more of a snowy look. I hope you will join us for our "Anything goes " challenge . Thanks for stopping by. 

CC&S #388

 Hello! I hope you are all doing well. I have been trying to use my new supplies right away recently.. so when I saw this week's colors I knew what die set I wanted to use. This is called Mighty Oak from the Greetery... and I am in LOVE!!! I plan to make lots and lots with this die. I also used the min slim scalloped die from TE. I love this min slim size. I like the look of slim line cards, they just seem too big to me. I hope you will join use and play with these fun fall colors. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #387

 

Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I've been trying to get my craft area cleaned up and decluttered. It's been a process. I gave a bunch of stuff I don't use anymore to my good friend , she has cancer and could use a distraction right now. I know she is using them , she keeps texting me with comments about this or that she found in the box. I've been trying to make some extra fall cards , I'm planning to mail out a bunch of cards to friends and family. Who knows if we will be able to get together for the holidays , so I'm planning on sending extra cards. I love this die from memory box. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #386

 Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I've been very overwhelmed at work recently. We had 1 person , retire, 1 quit and another person just go out on medical leave. I've had to take on a bunch of extra work recently and it has become a bit much. My hobby has suffered for it. Hobby and house cleaning went right out the window the last 2 weeks. I colored a bunch of these baby yoda images and was planning to make some cards to send to friends . So these colors worked nicely for my card this week. Thanks for stopping by today. 

THAIC #77

Hello! Welcome back , I've been trying to come up with new Christmas card ideas for the supplies I have already... but this stamp was calling my name. I plan to try new things or color combos with some of my older supplies. I have plenty to work with, just need some fresh ideas. For the watercoloring on this card I used my distress inks. I hope you will play along with us.

CC&S #384

Hello! I hope you all are doing well. I've been struggling with the mess I made in my craft area. I need to set aside a few hours to do a deep cleaning and organizing. How long have I been saying that? too long. So for today's card I used an embossing folder for some texture . I like how it adds a little punch to the card without being too busy, this is a CAS challenge. I hope you will play along with us .

CC&S #383

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. There has been some new rioting/looting in Chicago ( I live in NW Indiana very close , if you look at a map where Illinois and Indiana meet at lake Michigan that's me)So it's been a bit stressful, add in a monster thunderstorm and getting rear ended on my drive home it makes for a really bad day.  Luckily I was able to come home and craft away my day. I made this colorful card for this week's sketch challenge. I hope you will play along with us .

The Holly and Ivy #76

Hello! I've been trying to get a jump start on my Christmas cards. I picked up the TE Baby it's cold outside kit and have been enjoying making lots of cards. I'm a sucker for all things snowman ! We have a tree in our dining room with just snowman ornaments at Christmas. I'm thinking with the state of the world right now, we all might be sending extra Christmas cards . So I need to be ready. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #382

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well. I've been working on organizing my basement, purged out a bunch of stuff, sold some, and tossed some. It's a work in progress right now, but it's getting better. I'm going through all my holiday bins to purge out things from those too. My goal is to put in some lower cabinets and a counter top on the side I use to craft (plus take over a little extra) . I'd like to make room to have a larger table to work at. One day! So for this week'color challenge I used this I used budding beauties, sprinkled with kindness and petite eucalyptus stamps and dies from the Greetery. I'm crazy about this watering can, I'll be making more with it soon. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #381

Hello! I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy. I've been keeping busy purging things from my basement and organizing my craft area, it's getting better. I'm amazed at how many little scraps of paper I kept...what was I thinking? But then I come across stamps I forgot I bought and haven't used yet, like this cute one from Dreamland crafts. I think this would make a fabulous baby card , but I wanted a general one for this challenge. I did stamp and color extras of this , so I'll put together a couple baby cards too. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #380

Hello! This sentiment is life right now.... I've been so unmotivated to make any cards lately. It's not like I don't have enough supplies, stamps, inks or dies to play with. I have more than enough to keep all of us busy. Anyone else experiencing lack of motivation? I need to find some soon. I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #379

Hello! I'm back with a fun sketch to try. I thought about this one a few days, with plenty of ideas.. just which one to use. I settled on a floral image for the side elements. I noticed I don't use a lot of blue in my floral images. I loved how this turned out. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Thanks for stopping by today. 

CC&S #378

Hello! I'm back with a fun color challenge card to share. I thought of this stamp when I saw these colors. I love hydrangeas . My son's graduation party was great, we had good weather. I'm so relieved it's over now. It was a lot of work. I hope you will play along with us this week. 

THAIC #75

Hello! I hope you all are doing well. It's been a busy month for me here, so I'm looking forward to some downtime. Maybe then I'll catch up on my card making? I sell my cards in a couple of local shops and I've not had time to go check their inventory since they reopened. I hope you will join of for this anything goes challenge. 

CC&S #376

Hello! I'm back with a fun sketch challenge. I knew when I saw this sketch I wanted to ink blend a rainbow and this sentiment is the perfect fit. We could all use some brighter days couldn't we? I know I could, mostly 6/27. We have planned a small family graduation party for our oldest and hoped to have it outside where we can space people a bit further apart...forecast is for rain. Praying that the weather is good. Poor kiddo missed out on so many fun senior things the last few months I want him to have a great party. We have family only during the day (27 people) and he has his friends(26) in the evening, same day. It'll will be a busy one for sure. I hope you will play along with us . Thanks for stopping by today. 

The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge (THAIC) #74

Hello! It's been a busy week here so , I be quick ... Our challenge is an anything goes Christmas challenge. The stamp is from Hello Bluebird and I think it's adorable. Hope everyone is doing well. 

CC&S #375

Hello! I'm 

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back with a card for this week's color challenge. I used some tiny dies from Taylored expressions for the scene and the sentiment is from SSS. I've still been working hard getting ready for my son's graduation party. Even though we are having a small party during the day (family only) and a small amount of his friends in the evening.. it still needs to be nice. Yard is done, menu planned, just need to assemble the center pieces. I hope you all have a great week.