Let's Celebrate!...CR84FN45 79

Happy New Year! So much going on around here in my little crafty world! Before I get to today's post, I have some SUPER exciting news to share ~ I am thrilled to pieces to announce that Rebecca Cross, Owner of Pink Paislee has given me the awesome opportunity to be a part of the Pink Paislee 2012 Creative Team!!! YAHOOOO!!!  If you would like to see the complete list of talented designers, please click here.

Today kicks off an all new CR84FN Color Challenge AND it is our ONE year anniversary celebration as an official Color Challenge site! I can't thank the entire CR84FN DT gals enough for all their hard work over the past year, all the talented designers who play along and all of you who take the time to leave such encouraging comments :) I am looking forward to another AMAZING creative year with all of you! For the next two weeks, we will be playing with the vibrant color combination shown in the graphic below. The beautiful photos were provided courtesy of CR84FN's DT Member very own Deborah Frings. Thanks so much Deborah!

Using a combination of stamps, inks, paints, rub ons and  various die cuts, I made my first She Art canvas project which I learned how to make in Christy Tomlinson's She Art workshops. If you are looking to learn some fun and fabulous techniques, I highly recommend taking her workshops! They are AWESOME!

These vibrant colors are just what I needed to get me going with this project! Thanks Deb ;)

I made her dress combining fun patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Phantom and Parisian Anthology collections. The little flowery and heart detail on her dress are Stampin' Up rub-ons that I had in my stash for nearly 8-10 years! EEEKS!

The little dimensional flowers were made using fun patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Nantucket and Phantom collections along with the PTI Beautiful Blooms dies and more Stampin' Up rubons:

The pennant banner was stamped using a pretty flowery image from Flourishes Birthday Pennants and the numbers are from the MFT Typewriter set. Notice the pretty stamped rose border across the top? That was stamped using images from  Flourishes Birthday Pennants set:

Thanks so much for visiting! For COMPLETE details, please visit the CR84FN site and for some fab inspiration, please be sure to visit the CR84FN designers: Suzanne Czosek, Lisa Somerville, Stephanie Kraft, Sue Lelli, Deborah Frings, Heather Jensen

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Flourishes Birthday Pennants, Butterflies and Blossoms, MFT Typewriter Alphabet
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue, Phantom, Parisian Anthology, Nantucket
Die Templates & Machine: Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants, Grand Calibur, PTI Beautiful Blooms

Other: Ranger colorwash sprays, PTI ink, Liquitex paints and inks, Gesso, Memento

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a little Rain... 42

Hi there! Any big plans for ringing in the New Year? We are just going to hang out around home ~ hopefully see a movie or two this weekend :) I really want to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and the new Sherlock Holmes. We went to see The Adventures of Tintin with Connor and Meredith during the week and it was really good family entertainment. What awesome animation! Have you seen any good flicks lately?

I love the various cute umbrellas in the PTI Scattered Showers stamp set. It was one of my very first sets! I was in stampers Heaven when they released the coordinating die set! Such a time saver and the cut is perfect every time ~ gotta LOVE that!

I wanted to share this photo with you of a coyote that patrols/stalks our neighborhood! This photo was taken by Scott overlooking the wrought iron fence that runs along our back yard. I live near a mountain preserve and we have lots of desert wildlife running around. There has been a pack of four hanging out looking for food, I'm sure. I now carry a big walking stick when walking my fur babies to the mail box. Scott says to forget the stick and take a gun but I don't think the neighbors would appreciate that!

Thanks so much for visiting. Hope you have a safe and wonderful weekend! I'll be back Sunday, January 1st with an all new CR84FN! Be Sweet ;)

Stamps: PTI Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions
Dies: Spellbinders Tear Drop Circles, Classic Circles, Classic Petal, PTI Umbrella, Grand Calibur
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue ~ Tailored Suit

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Thank You x2 47

Hi there! Things have been a little hectic around here. Connor and Meredith are off from school for three weeks for Winter break so that means keeping two teenagers busy for me :) I think I drove over 100 miles today! Seriously! Meredith is volunteering at the younger children's horse riding camp and I am so proud of her for doing so. Unfortunately the stables are at least 45 miles away from our home. sigh... Connor is playing Varsity soccer and he has practice for 3 hours everyday, much closer to home. Thank goodness :) It's all good, just a lot of driving around town. Are you busy chauffeuring children around town as well?

I had time to sit down later in the evening and make a few much needed Thank You cards. I combined some pretty fun patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue collection along with a few of my favorite stamps from Waltzingmouse. One of the very first reasons why I fell in love with Claire's stamps is that she has designed many to coordinate flawlessly with Spellbinders dies. 

For this card, I stamped the pretty label image from Very Vintage Labels No. 1, used a Labels One die template to cut the image, stamped a sentiment from Rescue Remedies Additions then finished it off with a fun Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue ~ Chipboard Pops embellishment:

Here's another Thank You card using the same Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue collection, just a different pattern:

For this card, I used a fun polka dot label from Holiday Labels No. 14, used a Labels Fourteen die to cut the image then added a fun Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue ~ Chipboard Pops embellishment:

That's all I have for today ~ thanks so much for visiting! Be Sweet :)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Holiday Labels No. 14, Very Vintage Labels No. 1, Rescue Remedies Additions
Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, Labels One, Classic Scallop, Classic Triple Scallop, Grand Calibur, PTI doily
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue collection
Embellishments: Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue ~ Chipboard Pops

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Sew Special 39

Hi there dear blogging friends! I'm hoping you all had an amazing weekend and wonderful Christmas celebration if you observed the holiday! We had a great day at my home and spent some quality time together but I must admit, I am happy to sit down and kick my feet up for the rest of the evening :) I made this project several days ago but couldn't share it with you because it was for my sweet sister Tina who visits my blog regularly.

I upcycled a jewelry box that Meredith passed on to me using a combination of pretty patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Retired Sweetness collection along with an elegant stamped / die cut dress form from My Favorite Things. I finished off the project with a big blossom that was made using the MFT/ Die-namics Large Rolled Rose die:

Shown in the photo below is a photo of the original box before I got a hold of it :)

 For sketch inspiration, I played along with the current My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club:

I think both this photo of my sweet little girl Gretchen pretty much says it all about our hectic Christmas day:

 and this photo of my snow globe is how both Scott and I are feeling today :) Surely, many of you can relate! ;)

Thanks so much for visiting today! Hope you have a great day! Be Sweet ;) Mona

Supplies Used:
Stamps: My Favorite Things /Die-namics Well Worn Greetings & Die Set, Sew Nifty Stamp & Die Set, Large Rolled Rose, Faux Crocheted Border
Additional Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Labels Fifteen, Grand Calibur
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Retired Sweetness

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adore you 45

Hi there! Hope you are having an awesome weekend thus far! I scrapped a photo of Meredith at a horse riding lesson. I bought one of those 12" x 12" memorabilia photo frames to house it in. I am going to wrap it up and give it to her as a gift. I sure hope she is excited to hang it in her bedroom!

I used a variety of flower embellishments including once again one of Tina's hand made crocheted blossoms along with several fabric Prima flowers. The little tag features a sentiment from Technique Tuesday Hearts by Ali Edwards. My dear sweet friend Stephanie Kraft is responsible for this new addiction ;) I'm lovin' Ali's stamps so much, I even joined her monthly kit club!

Thanks so much for looking :) Hope you have a great weekend and Merry Christmas (if you observe!).
Be Sweet :)

Supplies Used:
"be" sentiments: Pink Paislee Retired Daily Junque Ephemera,
Stamps: Technique Tuesday Hearts by Ali Edwards
Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Grand Circles, PTI tag, Grand Calibur
Patterned paper: Glitz Design
Other: word sentiment strips from Pink Paislee Ephemera

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Christmas Greetings 36

T.G.I.F. and I have the day off from work! Yahooo! This IS my last Christmas card for 2011 and it's for my dear husband Scott :) 

I stamped the background using a combination of Waltzingmouse Text-It, Festive Foliage, and Compliments of the Season. I finished it off with a bow, button, twine and some home made pine cones using the Tim Holtz pine cone die that was given to me by my sweet friend, Sue Lelli. Thanks so much Sue ~ I LOVE it!!! I added a bit of Ranger Acrylic paint to the tips to make them look like they were kissed with snow :)

Thanks for visiting! Hope you have a great day! Be Sweet :)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Text-It, Festive Foliage, Compliments of the Season
Dies: Spellbinders Petite Ovals Small, Sizzix Tim Holtz Pine Cone die, Sizzix Vagabond

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Beauty and Love 50

Hi there! Hope you are all having a great day! I have an unexpected day off from work so I decided to create a few things before heading out the door to run some last minute errands. I'm trying to scrap a layout at least once a week so I pulled out some photos featuring Scott and I in front of The Louvre, Paris, France and some artwork showcased inside. I'm lovin' the beautiful papers in the Webster's Pages Western Romance collection and the coordinating accessories.

 I adhered a pretty pink floral silhouette to the center of a beautiful hand crocheted blossom that my sweet sister Tina made for me:

 For sketch inspiration, I played along with My Creative Sketches ~ Sketch #3:

If scrappin' is not your thing, you may like the card I made using scraps from my layout along with a journaling card, a die cut foil heart and a pretty resin heart:

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you liked my projects :) Be Sweet!

Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages Western Romance collection, Journaling Cards
Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Creative Book Pages, Labels Eighteen, Rose Creations, Grand Calibur
Other: Webster's Pages Pink Floral Silhouette, Webster's Pages Sparklers

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Grand Gerber Daisies...FTTC149 61

Happy Tuesday! It's time again for a new Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge! Thanks to all who joined in last week's fun! This week Beate is our wonderful hostess and she is challenging us all to create using the Telescoping Image technique. It's rather quite simple, merely stamp your image of choice two or three times, cutting it smaller each time for a layered look. NOTE: This will be the last FTTC of 2011, we will resume, Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012. If you are in need of a visual tutorial, please be sure to see the Flourishes Blog.

 Shown below is my sample using the Telescoping Image technique. This card is quite Grand! :) LOL The finished card measures approximately 6.25" x 6.25". This baby will definitely be hand delivered to my sweet sister Tina :)

To create my card, I inked up the larger image from Flourishes Gerber Daisies set then using various sized Spellbinders circle die templates to cut the image, colored using Copic Markers listed below. For a little added dimension, I paper pieced the very center Daisy and added glitter to each of the centers.

Here's a photo of the various sized increments of die templates and the coordinating image:

Many thanks for visiting ~ hope you are able to join in the fun! Please be sure to visit the Flourishes blog for complete details and for some incredible inspiration the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday DT: Tammy, Heather, Silke, Makiko, Cindy, Beate, Mona (that's me), Theresa Pollack (December Guest Designer). 

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Flourishes Gerber Daisies
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Digital Family Matters Paper Pack
Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Standard Circles LG, Standard Circles SM, Grand Circles, Grand Labels One, Grand Big Scalloped Circles, Grand Calibur
Markers: Copic Y11, Y21, G21, G28, BG11, BG13

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Home Made with LOVE 53

Hi there! Hope you are all having an awesome Sunday! Scott and I are both feeling a bit under the weather :( Nothing like coming down with a cold during one of the busiest times of the year. OK, enough whining for now and on to some crafty projects. One of my New Year's resolutions is not to hoard papercrafting goodies so starting early, I pulled out some beautiful Webster's Pages patterned paper that I purchased nearly a year ago! EEKS! I KNOW I'm not alone with this addiction am I? ;)

What really motivated me to get these tags completed is the treat I baked for my sweet sister Tina who has been traveling out of town with work for the past 3 weeks and returned home yesterday. As a welcome home treat, I baked her a loaf of pumpkin/gingerbread/pecan bread and made a tag to accompany it:

To make this tag, I combined pretty patterned paper from Webster's Pages Sweet Season collection with the Home Made WITH LOVE sentiment from the Waltzingmouse A Cottage Christmas stamp set:

The tag shown below was made using pretty paper from Webster's Pages Waiting for Santa collection with a beautiful embossed ornament and sentiment from Waltzingmouse 2011 Holiday Ornaments:

The following three tags were all made using pretty patterned paper from Webster's Pages Sweet Season collection and a variety of Waltzingmouse Stamps. The sentiment shown below is from Seasons of Love - Tags and the gorgeous ornament is from 2011 Holiday Ornaments:

The MERRY CHRISTMAS sentiment used on the tag shown below is from Seasons of Love - Tags:

and last but not least, another tag made using a stamped sentiment from Seasons of Love - Tags.

Thanks so much for visiting! Be Sweet!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse 2011 Holiday Ornaments, A Cottage Christmas, Seasons of Love - Tags
Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages Waiting for Santa, Sweet Season
Dies & Machine: Spellbinders Labels Seventeen, 2011 Heirloom Ornaments, Classic Hearts, Classic Scalloped Hearts, MFT Mini Rolled Roses, PTI Vintage Ornaments, Sizzix Vegabond

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