COCOA MOUSE CELEBRATES THE NEW YEAR

This is another two-fer. This week's Crazy for Cocoa Challenge (CC4C5) was to make a card with a celebration theme. I combined that with The Sweet Stop Sketch (SSS88) to make this card. Here's the sketch:

and here's my card:

I really like using these sketches. They are so amazing!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to make cards for a purpose. I am going to try to send out more cards to friends and family, so I want to have an occasion in mind that I could use these cards for before I make them. That actually helped me a lot on this one since it narrowed down a lot of possibilities. This card is going to a little girl for her birthday.

Thanks so much for visiting. Have a wonderful New Year's Eve!

Hugs,

Snoopy

BLOG CANDY!

It's time to celebrate! On Christmas Day, the visitor log hit 30,000! In honor of the wonderful people who have visited here and been such an encouragement to me, I am posting BLOG CANDY which will be awarded January 15, 2011. Here's a picture of the goodies:

The BLOG CANDY includes: a Martha Stewart circle cutter, Susan's Diamond Fold Template from Paper Pizazz, Hallmark Keepsake Peanuts Gang Christmas ornaments, Seascape Impressabilities from Spellbinders, two packages of embossing folders from Cuttlebug, a bottle of Prima Flowers, two of my very favorite Peanuts rubber stamps from Stampabilities, In Stitch'z stitching template from Bazzill, a mini Embossing/Die set from Cuttlebug, 3 Classic Stampin' Pads from Stampin' Up!, a beautiful set of clear stamps from Waltzing Mouse that are designed to fit perfectly within the Circle Nestabilities, an ink pad designed to be used with clear stamps from STAMPOLOGY,and last but not least, a Goodie Bag filled with all kinds of little treats! How's that for a celebration prize?

ENTER TO WIN the contest by doing the following:

1. Become a FOLLOWER of my blog.

2. Leave a COMMENT on this post.

3. Post about this blog candy ON YOUR BLOG with a LINK to this post (if you don't have a blog, let me know in your comment and try to tell a few people about the giveaway :D )

Only ONE entry per person, please.

I will use a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR to pick the WINNER on JANUARY 15th. Good luck everyone!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

ANOTHER SU! CHRISTMAS CARD

I made another card with the Bells & Boughs stamp set, but this time I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the paper and added a rub-on from miniMARKS. This should be my last Christmas card this year ... I hope ...lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Snoopy

MORE SU! CHRISTMAS CARDS

I couldn't resist making more cards with these stamps and decorative papers. They are just so much fun to play with.

This one might just be my favorite one from this batch of cards. The Silent Night sentiment is a rub-on from miniMARKS. The papers and ribbon are all Stampin' Up!

These next two are my very first gatefold cards. I don't know why I never made them before. They are a lot of fun to decorate.

Again, the sentiment is a are rub-on and the Holly dimensionals are from Anna Griffin.

I just had to make another quilt square card, but I changed the ink color on the stamp to give it a different look.

I am having WAY to much fun with this little bow maker. I figured this one out on my own and I like how it fits the card.

Here's that square lattice embossing folder again. I just love how it transformed the vanilla cardstock. Up close it almost looks like fabric.

I love the way the word PEACE has the little dove on it. I'm sure it was designed more for a scrapbook page, but I couldn't resist using it on a card.

Christmas is most definitely a time of hope, so I let the paper speak for itself.

Finally, here is the last card. I used a sentiment from the Bells & Boughs stamp set. I can't remember ever making so many different cards from one stamp set, and I haven't even used all of them yet. This was definitely worth the investment.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone, and Merry Christmas to you all!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

TWO BIRDS WITH ONE MOUSE

I was all set to get my Cocoa Mouse card ready for the Crazy for Cocoa Challenge Blog (C4CC4), when I noticed they had a link to The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog. The Cocoa challenge was to make a card with RED, BLUE, and BROWN colors. The sketch blog challenge was to use the following sketch to make a card and to be sure to include stitching (real or faux) somewhere on the card. Well, since I was lacking inspiration for a layout for the Cocoa card, I decided to try to kill two birds with one mouse and combine the challenges.

Here is the sketch I had to follow:

And here is the completed card using the sketch and the required colors. It took me awhile to find the right papers to use on this, but once I had them the rest sort of fell together.

Photo:

Scan:

I'm still new to following sketches. I've only done a handful so far, but it really helps me to improve my card making, so I'll probably keep at it.

Thank you so much for taking time to visit during this busy holiday time. Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

SU! CHRISTMAS CARDS

Here are some variations on a theme. I got the Christmas Postcard and Bells & Boughs stamp sets from Stampin' Up! along with their Deck the Halls decorative papers.

I used a sampling of the papers on this card and cut out the sentiment using Nestabilities.

More decorative papers here and the sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip.

The texture on the holly paper was made using the Square Lattice embossing folder.

I just love these papers. They really make the card special.

The poinsettias on this paper were so pretty, I just couldn't cover them up with a bow.

I actually cut the bells out of the top of the paper and pasted them here by the bottom left corner of the paper to make the card front.

Again, the paper is the highlight of the card. I added some holly embellishments by Anna Griffin that I found at Michaels for a little added dimension.

I really had a hard time getting into the spirit and making Christmas cards this year. Losing my Mom in October still aches in my heart, but my 17 year old daughter reminded me that nothing I do (or don't do) will change that, but making cards for others will cheer me and them up ... and she was right. These are only just going in the mail now, but I know the recipients will appreciate them nonetheless.

Merry Christmas to All!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

CRAZY 4 COCOA CHALLENGE 3

Here's this week's entry for the Crazy For Cocoa Challenge Blog. This week's theme was Anything But A Card. I immediately thought of CD sleeves, since they are just the right size to put a giant cookie into. This one has peanut butter cookies with chocolate chunks in them. Needless to say, my 3 teenagers are thrilled that I joined this challenge ... lol. They've even offered to help me clean up ... the cookies that is.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day! I've got to get back to the kitchen now because I have a cookie swap to bake for. Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Snoopy

MORE RECYCLING OLD CHRISTMAS CARDS

Here's another recycled image on a brand new card. The scene was so pretty, I just had to recycle it. I trimmed the photo and the paper layers with Nestabilities dies and added the ribbon and sentiment to complete the project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

CRAZY 4 COCOA CHALLENGE 2

This is for the Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge on Sweet 'n' Sassy's new Cocoa Challenge Blog.

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D

RECYCLING OLD CHRISTMAS CARDS

We pulled out the Christmas stuff this week and I found the Christmas cards that were sent to me last year (the store bought ones. The handmade cards I have in a keepsake box.) Anyway, some of them were so pretty that I used the fronts of the cards to recycle into new cards.

This is a Thomas Kincade card that I cropped with my Nestabilities. I made the background paper by stamping snowflakes on plain white cardstock. Finally, I used my brand new bow maker to make the pretty bow at the top. This is definitely my favorite new gadget! It makes perfect bows every time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Snoopy :D