Thanks be for thee!

But whether we have less or more,

Alway thank we God therefore...

~Author unknown, "Sir Cleges," a French metrical romance, or Fabliau, c. 1300s

Today a new Sunday Song & Rhyme Challenge has started at The Outlawz Challenges and will run through November 27, 2021

Our sponsor this month is: Makenna Kroulik with a prize of the two images used by the team.

We have a beautiful poem from Margaret this Challenge called Autumn Serenade. Lots of cues that could take you in any directions, but of course, Autumn was mine!

This is such a fun image and can be colored to go with any Season. For mine, I used Fall colors as I always seem to be short cards for Thanksgiving!

Autumn Serenade

Through the trees

Comes Autumn with her serenade

Melodies

The sweetest music ever played

Autumn kisses we knew

Are beautiful souvenirs

As I pause to recall

The leaves seem to fall like tears

Silver stars

Were clinging to an Autumn sky

Love was ours

Until October wandered by

Let the years come and go

I'll still feel the glow

That time cannot fade

When I hear

That lovely Autumn serenade

Love was ours

Until October wandered by

Let the years come and go

I'll still feel the glow

That time cannot fade

When I hear

That lovely Autumn serenade

Serenade

Serenade

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Sammy Gallop / Peter De Rose

Autumn Serenade lyrics © Sammy Gallop Music Company

Supplies used

• Image printed on Hammermill Color Copy
• Archival ink from Ranger
• Cardstock from Pen+Gear (Base) and Stampin Up!
• Embossing folder from Darice
• Gold gems from Close to My Heart
• ProMarkers
• Sentiment from Stampin Up!
• Sketch used: Seize the Sketch STS#22

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges for more challenges and Inspiration!

(Hugs) Cara

Unimpressed Cactus

Hark! Hark to the wind! ’T is the night, they say,

When all souls come back from the far away—

The dead, forgotten this many a day!

~Virna Sheard (1862–1943), "Hallowe’en," c.1910

Hi!

My card was chosen as a top pick for the September Mirtillamente Challenge and today I have the pleasure of being a Special Guest DT for the November Challenge which runs from the 1st to the 27th of the month so you have lots of time to play along! They really have only one rule which is you have to post to one of your social media sites like blogger or Instagram, for example.

So, when I won, I was allowed to pick an image from the Mirtillamente Store. It was a tough job but I settled on this fun guy “What Pumpkin” which cracks me up everytime I see it! Why you ask? Because I live in Arizona and well, cactus abound and people decorate them for the Holidays! Sometimes it works out - sometimes not so much! So of course, I had to have him! 

This card will be part of the November Challenge you can find HERE

Supplies

• Image “What Pumpkin” printed on Hammermill Color Copy
• Archival ink from Ranger
• Artista Gold gel pen
• Background paper for tag was made using a alcohol & ink process
• Banner dies from Lawn Fawn
• Cardstock from Pen+Gear (base)
• Design Paper from Stampin Up and Paper Pizzazz
• Prima Flowers
• ProMarkers
• Rhinestones from my Stash
• Sentiment from Martha Stewart
• Tag die from Creative Dies Plus
• Based on this sketch from Scrapbook&cards.com Winter 2016

Thanks for stopping by!
Cara

CHALLENGES ENTERED

A Perfect Time to Craft, Anthing goes November #11-2021 (Entry 21)

Crafty Sentiments, Anything goes (Entry 73)

Love to Scrap LTSCB #151, Anything Goes (Entry 6)

613 Avenue Create #11, Anything Goes (Entry 335)

Classic Design Challenge #11, Anything Goes (Entry 21)

The Outlawz Crash your Stash Challenge: Glossy Cardstock

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”

~ Jim Valvano

Good morning!

We have a new Crash your Stash Challenge starting at The Outlawz Challenges and our Sponsor this month is KLM Digital Designs

Our cue this month is Glossy Cardstock

For this card, I used a bit of alcohol on a cotton ball. Added a couple drops of ink from a re-inker bottle and start tapping and dabbing until I had something I liked.

Supplies:

• Image printed on Stampin Up! whisper white card stock
• Card Candy from my stash
• Cardstock from The Paper Studio (base) and Stampin Up!
• Cotton ball
• India Ink from Memories
• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Re-inker from Stampin Up!
• Sentiment from Halo Rubber Stamps
• Water color crayons from Stampin Up!

Now come on over to The Outlawz Challenges to play along with us or one of the other challenges that are always in process!
(Hugs) Cara

Day 28 and the final day of the Phoenix Paper Crafters Create Daily Challenge

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun and find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches today, tomorrow and beyond.

~Irish blessing

Today is the last day of the Phoenix Paper Crafters Create Daily Challenge located HERE .

I didn’t skip day 27. I didn't post because I am still working on the crochet cocoon for my daughter. I was hoping it would be completed today but I had to get some challenge cards completed so it will be another day or so before I can share the finished garment.

What I am sharing today is a card I made from scraps left over from one of the challenge cards I made

I punched out the butterfly then based with a piece of ¼” strips woven together.

Items used

• Butterfly punch from Stampin Up!
• Cardstock from The Paper Studio (base) and Stampin Up!
• Flower from Prima
• Glossy paper scraps from another card using the alcohol & ink technique 
• India Ink from Memories
• Ink from Stampin Up!
• Oval punches from Stampin Up!
• Sentiment from Unity Stamp Co.

Thanks for stopping by!
Cara

Day 11, Phoenix Paper Crafters Create Daily Challenge

This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today is day 11 of the Phoenix Paper Crafters Create Daily Challenge located HERE and I am sharing a simply card that I made basically from scraps.

• The base for this card started out as a 5 x7 card but I cut down to 5.5 x 4.25. I had put this one aside because I glued the embossed piece on wrong so the card would have opened on the left instead of the right. Plus, it was a little off center.
• The design paper is a left-over piece from me playing with ink and alcohol on glossy paper
• The sentiment was one I dug out of a basket of unused die cuts.
• The black rippled paper is a scrap from scrap bin
• The white looped circle was also found in my basket of unused die cuts  
• I added some paper flowers from Prima
• Pearls are from Recollections
• Nuvo Pearl drops

Thanks for stopping by!
Cara

Happy Birthday Honey ...

Birthdays! What music in the world! In these unresting times, when nothing intellectual, economic, social, political, seems stable; when customs and traditions hoary with age are mixed with explosive elements, this oldest of institutions is not in danger of yielding to destructive forces. ~J.R. Macduff, Birthdays, 1893

Good morning!

Today I am sharing the card I made for my husband’s birthday which we celebrated a couple days ago…

I decided to play around with my very small collection of alcohol inks. First, I adhered some aluminum foil to a piece of card stock. Then played around with the inks, a straw and spray bottle of alcohol. Once I was satisfied with the way it looked and the ink was dry I ran it through my Big Kick in an embossing folder (note: Just because you think it is dry, might wanna hit it with the heat gun a few seconds to make sure – or you can clean up your folder with a cotton ball and alcohol).

The layout is based on a card I found on Pinterest from ceciliacards.blogspot.au

Supplies:Adirondack Alcohol Inks from Ranger/TH

• Aluminum Foil
• Card stock (base) from the Paper Studio
• Card stock from Stampin Up!
• Design Paper Unknown (found at local flea market)
• Die “Ornate Labels” from Sizzix
• Die “Stitched Banners” from Gina Marie Designs
• Embossing folder “Blister” from Spellbinders

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Thankful ...

We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning. ~Albert Barnes

Good morning!

I’m here to share my card for the new color challenge which started today at The Outlawz Challenges! Our sponsor this month is DiDigisStamps with a $12.00 gift card to her store.

This week’s challenge comes from Kimberly and we are to use shades of orange and make it thankful or Thanksgiving.

I was rifling through a box that contains scraps of design papers as well as papers I’ve made but never used. In there I found some glossy white card stock that I had started a “smash” design using my Stampin Up! re-inkers. I either never finished or didn’t like what I was seeing at the time but the colors were mostly what I needed so I pulled it out proceeded to update it with some more oranges, a gold and some sprays of alcohol.

Once I was happy with all the colors I die cut my leaves (I have a stack waiting for me to use now).

I thought about using more than one leaf, but with all the colors it just seemed to overtake the card and you couldn’t concentrate on how beautiful each leave is by itself … so a single leaf card was the ticket!

Card size 4.25 x 5.50

• Card stock (The Paper Studio & Stampin Up!)
• Design Paper (for the leaves) was created using glossy card stock, Stampin Up! re-inkers and alcohol
• Leaves die (Sizzix)
• Thankful die (Close to My Heart)
• Sequins (Stash)

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by TheOutlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

(Hugs) Cara

Birthday Boy!

Youth is a wonderful thing.

What a crime to waste it on children.

~George Bernard Shaw~

LOL ... just love the saying above! How many of us (ahem) mature type peoples have often thought that! I know I have!

Anyway, earlier this month my youngest turned 26 and this is the card I made for him

5 x 7

• Cardstock from The Paper Studio & Stampin Up!
• DP: Homemade using Glossy cardstock and re-inkers from Stampin Up!
• India Ink from Memories
• Die: "Birch Tree" from Taylored Expressions
• Die:  "Mini Flourish" Mover/Shaper from Sizzix
• Sentiment:  "Happiest of Birthday Wishes" from Stampin Up!

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

To the Moon and Back!

Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and fans the bonfire.

François VI de la Rochefoucault

Good morning! 

Today I leave for Japan to see my daughter whom I've not been able to hug in well over two years. I am sooooo excited!

I made this card for my husband to let him know that I love him and will miss him while I am gone. Even more so since he just returned from California where he and the crew he works with were assigned to help with the wildfires there.

The technique for this A2  card is messy but fun using glossy paper, reinkers and alcohol.

Since I'm working on a tutorial for Through the Craft Room Door I am unable to give out more details at this time.

Other supplies are:

Cardstock & Glossy Paper from Stampin Up!

Metallic Copper paper from paper Temptress

Heart button from my stash

Black India India Ink from Memories

Sentiment from Studio G

Circle dies from Sizzix

Thanks for visiting!

(Hugs) Cara

Happy Birthday Oscar (Not the Grouch)

There is still no cure for the common birthday. ~John Glenn

Good morning

Whew! 

This is it - The last of the scraps from DP I made using glossy card stock and re-inkers. For this card I took the scrap pile I had left and punched out squares. Not much left but confetti!

It is destined for a co-worker celebrating his birthday today!

Size A2

SUPPLIES

CASd) from Simple Stampin

Card stock, 3/4" square punch & Sentiment (Best Dad Ever) - Stampin Up!

Ink - Memories India Ink

Thank you for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Happy Birthday Father-in-Law Barry

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. ~Jean Paul Richter

Good morning!

I am almost done using up some DP I made a while back using glossy card stock and re-inkers. I just love how it turned out and can barely stand to throw it away so I just keep trying to figure out how to use it up.

Today is the birthday of my husbands father Barry! I hope he likes it!

This is the first time I have used this new tree stamp I recently purchased and I am in love! I know this is going to quickly become one of my most favorite tree stamps!

And it looks awesome on my paper - looks like a wild day close to the sea ... which is awesome since my Father-in-law and his wife live close the ocean.

Size 5.5 x 5.5

SUPPLIES

Based on a sketch from No Reimer Reason

Glossy Cardstock - Stash

Cardstock & Sentiment (Happiest of Birthday Wishes) - Stampin up!

Woodgrain Embossing folder - Sizzix

Tree Image - Stampendous

Ink - Memories India Ink

Thanks for stopping by! Your comments brighten my day!

(Hugs) Cara

Masculine Birthday

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman

Good morning!

I make all the birthday cards for my co-workers. I don't mind and it gives me a place to re-home the cards I make for challenges or for fun. However most of the time when I make cards they are done so with specific people in mind. 

I made this card for a male co-worker who will be celebrating later this month.

I have had this die cut index card in my stash for quite some time and I thought this was a perfect layout to use it on. The blue colored paper is actually a left over from a piece I made a while back using glossy card stock and re-inkers and the strip running across the card was created by inking up the embossing folder and running through my Big Kick.

This card is based on this sketch #225 from The Shabby Tea Room.

CARD SIZE: A2

SUPPLIES

Card stock, ink - Stampin Up!

Sentiment - Inkahootz!

Wood grain embossing folder - The Paper Studio

Embroidery Floss - Stash

Wood buttons - Stash

Pop dots

Aleen's Paper Glaze

Tools:

Sizzix Big Kick

Stamp-a-ma-jig

We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CHALLENGES ENTERED

The Shabby Tea Room

Sketch Challenge # 225

613 Avenue Create
Challenge #78: Anything Goes

Crafting from The Heart
Challenge #25: Anything Goes

Sister Act Card Challenge
Challenge #63: Anything Goes

Pixies Crafty Workshop
Challenge #131: Anything goes but must use scraps

Happiest Wishes

There is still no cure for the common birthday. ~John Glenn

This is a Birthday card for our Director at work. 

I used a sketch from Card Patterns and the background was made by adding drops of ink to wet glossy card stock then laying another piece on top. I then stamped with a speckled stamp and leaves. 

Size A2

SUPPLIES

Card stock, sentiment (Happiest of Birthday Wishes), background stamp from Stampin Up!

Glossy card stock, button & twine from stash

Circle dies from Sizzix

Speckled background stamp unknown

Card pattern Sketch #56

Thanks for stopping by!

Cara

"Make your own paper" CAS challenge

May brooks and trees and singing hills join in the chorus too,

And every gentle wind that blows send happiness to you.

Irish Blessing

Good morning!

Today is the start of another Clean & Simple Challenge at the Outlawz.

This week Linda has challenged us to make our own designer paper. 

Challenge excepted Linda!

I love making my own papers and this is one of my favorites!

This effect is created by adding drops of ink to glossy card stock. Then you take another piece of glossy card stock, mist it and lay it on top of the inked card stock and you smoosh them together, smoothing out from middle to edges.

Then peel apart and let dry.

Note: keep colors to 3-4 max and go light on the darker colors or you could muddy everything up

You never know what you are going to get!

It's always a surprise to see what comes out and in this case I love every piece that came out of this batch!

Card size - A2

SUPPLIES

Card stock for Cardbase from X-ped-X

Glossy card stock from stash

Reinkers - I used Stampin Up!

Sentiment from The Angel Company (Just because)

Image from Stampin Up! (Seeds of Kindness)

Rhinestones from Paper Studios

Thanks for stopping by!

{Hugs} Cara

Give Thanks

Good morning!

Today is a new day and a new Clean and Simple Challenge over at The Outlawz!

This week we are "Giving Thanks" ... One could think how cliche' since this month is Thanksgiving here in the U.S.A, but it's good to be reminded that giving thanks is not always about the Turkey and Stuffing. It's also about the people in our lives that we appreciate but so very often forget to let know how we feel.

Take the time to tell the people around you how thankful you are to have them in your life. Such a simple action and the only thing it will cost you is a few moments of your time, but it can make the whole day brighter for that special someone!

Here's my card for the challenge

I created the leaf using a sticker that I added to BG paper I made then trimmed out and added to card on a foam dot.

Supplies: Stampin Up! (card stock), Starform (Gold leaf sticker), Inkahootz (Sentiment), Paper Studio ("Leaves" EF), Memories (India Ink), metallic paper is scrap from my stash

The leaf background was made using a ink & alcohol technique

This card is going to my daughter in Japan. She has been posting on her facebook page wonderful pictures of Japan in the fall.  Her father & I are very proud of what she had accomplished. We are so thankful for her humor and wit and loving soul.

Please come on Come on by and check us out!

Maybe something will trigger your creative streak and you will play along with us.

HUGS

Cara