Fall is Here

I haven't had as many posts on here lately, I've been taking advantage of the gorgeous Fall weather here in central Indiana. I've spent a couple of days working in the yard, trying to get ahead of the leaves that are falling so quickly from our trees. We have ten acres of property, with a lot of mature trees to enjoy. Here are a couple of pics

 This is my favorite time of year. I love the crunching of the leaves underfoot, and the beautiful colors in my yard. Even though it's a little chilly today, I think I'll pull out the rake, and do a little yardwork, that'll keep me warm! Enjoy the beautiful day, I know I will!

Mojo Monday

Even though it is far from Monday, I have finally completed a card for the sketch for Mojo Monday! Maybe I need to title my posts Mojo Thursday, as that is usually the day I can finally get around to creating. This week, I see there are a a lot of participants with this sketch:

I didn't follow exactly, but pretty close, which I think is the whole idea behind a sketch!

Once again, digging into my stash of old papers. These papers are from a Close To My Heart special years ago, called Cocoa Cafe. I gave a handful of these sheets away last night, and still have quite a bit left over. I love the little bit of Amethyst on the stripe. I offset the square intentionally to be able to see the Amethyst below. The stamp set is also from CTMH, called Fashionista. This card came together so quickly, I just love it! If you have any questions, please let me know, thanks for visiting!

Little House Progress

We've had a couple of rainy, wanna stay inside kind of days here in central Indiana. These are my favorite days, when I can sit with some needlework. My youngest son and I have found a tv series on Netflix that we have been watching obsessively, and I have taken the opportunity to put a few cross stitches in my Little House project, while we sit. Here is the newest version of the house:

I re-stitched the tree and house that I had pulled out last week, and added quite a bit more. At this point, it's more than halfway done, and I love the way it's turning out. I have a homeowner's association meeting to attend tonight, or I'd probably be stitching away the evening. Maybe I can make some progress throughout the week. Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Decorations

The other day, I mentioned that I love to put out some decorations for fall and Halloween.  I haven't put as much out this year as I usually do, but I wanted to share my mantle. I have a big stone fireplace in my living room, and when you walk in, that is the first thing you see. This is probably my favorite place to display a hodgepodge of items! Because I have very high ceilings in the living room, anything I put up on the mantle has to have some height to it, or it gets lost in the room. The three black candlesticks, with the glittery orange candles are probably my favorite items I put up here. Now that I think about it, maybe I should add a couple of little black spiders, and maybe some raffia on them......

Until next time, have a great day!

Pear & Partridge Card, Mojo Monday Style

Welcome to another version of my Mojo Monday! This week, sketch #263 was probably one of my favorite ones. I really like the addition of the little tab on the right side.  Here's this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

See what I mean, isn't this cute! I used double sided Pear and Partridge paper from Close To My Heart. This is the Christmas paper pack this year:

I used cocoa cardstock for my base, and cranberry cardstock behind the printed paper. I used a CTMH Dimensional Elements Booksmart for my tab, which I had to cut off on the right side.  The beige ribbon is from the Pear and Partridge Workshops on the Go card kit. I used the CTMH October Stamp of the Month, Very Merry Christmas for my stamped words. I'm excited to have another Christmas card already made! Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween's Coming!

For some reason, I always love decorating for Halloween. I don't do a lot of scary decorations, but I love anything with witches, ghosts and most definitely pumpkins. Maybe it's because I know that with Halloween, comes with colder temperatures. And unlike many people, I love it when it's cold outside! Last year, to add to my Halloween decor, I made a 12x12 shadowbox with Halloween images. This year, I used My Creations cubes from Close To My Heart, to make a perpetual calendar. Every side of the cube has a different number, and they can be turned to change the date.

I used stamps and paper from the Moonlight Workshops on the Go. Since I had little pieces left from an old Close To My Heart paper kit, I added those in too. I sponged the numbers with Goldrush ink. I also embellished these cubes with black and gray sparkles. These will look great with my other Halloween creations! Here's another side of the cubes:

These were very simple to create. If you have any questions on them, or would like to order the supplies, let me know. Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling Flirty!

Today is the first time I've had a chance to sit and play with Close To My Heart's new Flirty paper pack. I've had it for a while, but I've been completing so many layouts lately, and the colors and prints in this paper pack are not ones that usually fit with the pictures of the men in my family, so I haven't really dug in. I see myself using this pack mostly for cards. I finally created a card with the Mojo Monday sketch this week. Here's the sketch:

 I love the little banners on this. Once I sat down, my card came together so quickly:

I don't think my lighting was optimal for this shot, but I really liked the card. I added New England Ivy cardstock, as well as a retired CTMH color, Golden Ember for the banners. A little hint of burlap ribbon and a button tied with hemp completed the look. Maybe I'll stick this in the mail to my son and his new wife, I can relate to the situation they are in, as history has  a way of repeating itself. I can remember what it was like for me as a newlywed, unable to be with my husband because I was in college in one city, while the Army had him serving somewhere else. My son is currently stationed in one city, while his new bride finishes law school in another.  They have learned to make the most of their time together, and I am so happy for them.
Thanks for stopping by to see what I've created, have a great day!

Getting things done!

Well, my family all left me alone in the house last night. Of course, I could have spent my time doing a lot of studying, which I feel like I have neglected lately. But, instead, I took advantage of uninterrupted time at my scrapbook table! I have had a pile of layouts started, and last night I actually completed 5 layouts! This is such an accomplishment for me, I was thrilled! I also worked on a Halloween project that I will show later this week, using new CTMH supplies. Check out these layouts-

These photos are all from 2008, my boys look so young! It feels so good just to be able to finish these. I am loving the LOAD Challenge over at Let's Scrap, I am getting so much done! The goal is to complete 31 projects this month. With the pages I completed last night, I am already at 18, I think that's already a record for me in one month! I will attempt to get the others posted later today. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Simply Stitchin

I'm going to switch gears around a little bit today. I've been participating in the Mojo Monday card sketches for the last couple of weeks, and I love doing those! I've also participated in the LOAD challenges over at Let's Scrap. For a change of pace this weekend, I picked up one of my favorite hobbies, a little bit of cross stitch. My college roommate taught me to stitch, way back in the '80's, and I was immediately hooked. At the moment, I probably have at least a dozen cross stitch projects started, and I don't always work on the same one. Here is a peek at the one I worked on recently:

This chart was in a copy of For the Love of Cross Stitch magazine from 2000. I have always wanted to complete this, and I finally started it this summer. It was stitching up fast and easy, until I realized I had miscounted. As you can see in the picture, I had to remove the tree to the right of my letters, as well as a little bit of the house. It gets frustrating having to pull out stitches, but I've waited a long time to do this, so I wanted it done right! As the days are getting colder, I'll probably get more stitching done. I love curling up with a light quilt and my needle and floss. Dinner's been sitting in the slow cooker all day, so maybe I'll put in a few stitches tonight. Thanks for stopping by!

Off to a Wedding!

I don't think I'm going to have the time to create my layout for the LOAD challenge today. I'm headed down to Tennessee this morning, my oldest son, the soldier in my recent layouts, is getting married tomorrow! I'm so excited for him and Lindsey! They are forecasting rain for Nashville this weekend, say a prayer for us that it holds off until after their outdoor ceremony. I'll be back on Monday with pictures to share, have a great weekend!

CTMH Florentine, LOAD Challenge Day 4

I'm on a roll, still keeping up with the Layout A Day Challenge from Let's Scrap! As a Close To My Heart consultant, I have a big stack of layouts that I prepare for my customer workshops, most of which I never quite got around to adding photos to. That stack of layouts is quickly shrinking, as I am making the time this month to add the pictures, a little bit of journaling, and move them to albums of pages completed. I am loving this! For today's post, I have pages using CTMH Florentine. These pages were directly out of the Workshops On The Go kit. They were so quick to assemble, using the directions provided. The colors on these pages were perfect for the very few Army pictures I have.

The handsome soldier on these pages is my oldest son. It's such a great feeling to see your children find their passion in life. For Chris, the Army is his passion, so much like his father. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Mojo Monday 261

I had to reach way back into a drawer to get this old paper out! I used the retired Close To My Heart paper, At The Game for this card. Here is the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, and the card that I made with it. Again, a masculine card from me, I just can't help it!

CTMH Florentine, LOAD Challenge

Over at Let's Scrap, there is currently a LOAD (Layout A Day) Challenge going on. I decided to join in, hoping to catch up a little bit on my scrapping. I assembled a layout on day one, but only had one of the pictures handy to put on the page, so I didn't get it posted yesterday.  However, today, I did complete my layout, I'm so happy! I've wanted to scrap these pictures for two years now, it's a relief to get them done.

I used paper from the retired CTMH Florentine paper pack, with the addition of Twilight and Garden Green cardstocks. I've got a layout started for tomorrow, and was picking out papers for my Mojo Monday card this week. Check back for some new artwork!