Christmas Joy in June

I saw the challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' to make a card showing warm winter clothing. Of course, Santa Clause has to wear really warm winter clothes,

so here's my example made from my box of Christmas paper scraps and a CTMH ornament and stamps. I think the background paper was from Basic Grey.  I colored Santa with watercolor pencils.  I loved the sentiment stamp which was very inexpensive and may not be available much longer.  Santa is one of the images in the set Santa Claus.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
A Snowflake's Promise #24 - anything goes
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - warm winter clothing
Christmas Card Challenge #30 - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #287 - use a sentiment
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - anything goes!


Thanks for visiting! May the JOY of Christ be with you all year

Mojo Monday 453 - The Sweet Life

I wanted to combine the Mojo Monday sketch with the Bitten By the Bug 2 challenge to use 2 of something. I wanted to cut out two strawberries because I thought about a sweet incident that happened years ago in June. We were in the ministry and moving to a new home in the sandhills of Nebraska. Our moving truck pulled up to the parsonage some time after 7:00 in the evening. There were many of the church families waiting to unload our truck. The ladies even unpacked our kitchen boxes and put everything away. In a very short time we were done.

Then they brought out homemade ice cream and strawberries!  They told me the strawberries were from our garden, planted by the previous minister. That strawberry patch was filled with everbearing strawberry plants that kept producing some even later that summer.

Is it any wonder that we enjoyed our time serving the folks of that church! This sweet memory inspired the choice of my sentiment from the old CTMH July 2013 stamp of the month set, Sweet Life.

I used this Mojo Monday sketch with grosgrain and satin ribbons for the diagonal strips. I cut the Cricut strawberries (Paisley cartridge)and the scalloped rectangle (don't remember the cartridge).
I added some silver sequins and the satin ribbon for the Simon Says Stamp challenge to add some shimmer. (I'm always trying to use up my old B&T paper. This is Seafoam, I think.)

I'm also sharing this card with Word Art Wednesday Challenge #236-237. Their scripture word art and devotions always inspire me. May we be like those everbearing strawberries by serving the Lord and blessing others all throughout our lives!

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45"

Vintage Christmas Card

Before I cut my hand deeply today on broken glass I didn't know was there,  I made this card and photographed it. So this post is short, but the card was just so relaxing after spending 3 hot days working in our barn.  Somehow in summer the cool thoughts of December seem to help me.


I was inspired by this sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches, Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #284 to make it vintage, and the music challenge at Moving Along with the times. I wanted to show the song title on one of the Paper Studio papers, A Carol of the Holly, and use the Santa image with holly in the corner and the holly wreath. I also focused on using the traditional Christmas colors of red and green for the challenge at Holly Jolly Christmas.

Thanks for visiting! May you have cooling thoughts in the heat of summer!



Mojo Monday #450 - Christmas Wishes

Staying out of town and living in our motor home isn't as conducive to creating as spending the day in my well-supplied craft room. I'm spending the days and some evenings with 3 or 4 grandkids, taking them swimming or watching them play baseball or basketball.  It's also past time to start making Christmas cards if I'm going to have enough, so here's a start. I used this week's Tall and Skinny sketch at Mojo Monday for a fun snow/snowman themed card. Weather is getting hot here and it was pleasant to think about making snowmen!

I used a little math and made mine with the same proportions but larger to fit my envelopes, 6 1/2" x 4 1/8." Everything used is from CTMH except the copics I used for coloring, the Stardust Stickles, and the ribbon. I also typed the word Christmas using the free  "love moments" font I found on internet, set at 60 point. The striped paper is from the Magical paper pack with red shimmer trim beside it. I embossed the Crystal Blue tag using the confetti dots embossing folder because the random dots seem more like snow. I sanded them to reveal the white core of the cardstock, one of my favorite features of the CTMH papers.

The snowman is from a retired stamp set, "Flakey Friends." I stamped him with whisper ink and colored him to match the striped paper.

I used Stardust Stickles on the circular tips of the chipboard snowflake:

Thank you for visiting! May you make some cool memories that will make someone smile in the warm days of summer!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
A Snowflakes Promise Challenge 23 - Christmas anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - June
 Jingle Belles - Frosty the Snowman/or Snowflakes
Mojo Monday 450 - sketch
The 12 Months of Christmas Link-Up - this one follows the anything goes option
Winter Wonderland - Snowflakes Challenge

June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - The Long Way Home





Welcome to our blog hop illustrating the June Stamp of the Month, The Long Way Home. If you've come here from Tammy Lubick's blog, you're on the right track. If you get lost, you can find the entire list of bloggers on Melinda's blog hop list.








When we take our grandkids on road trips, I give them each a notebook and pens for writing notes, drawing, playing games, etc.  Here's my latest altered composition book for one of them. This month's stamp of the month was perfect for a road trip theme.



The small images inspired me to stamp them on a banner. All of the papers are from the Urban paper pack. I used Archival Black ink and Enchantment pigment inks (Peacock, Saffron, Sapphire) and Saddle from the Basic pigment inks because I was using Matte Mod Podge that seemed a little watery to adhere and coat all of the pieces for durability. I stamped the word "NOTES" using the small alphabet, Etched. The banner, black arrow, and "adventure" were cut using Cricut Artbooking. I stamped the vehicles on back and kept it simple:

Now you're ready to move on to Michele Rowley's creative artwork! Enjoy the journey!