What DON'T you want? (MMTPT70)

This is the teapot for this week's Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge. I've had this teapot for several years but never used it for tea! At least it came in handy for this challenge! LOL! Notice that Santa is holding a Teddy Bear and a drum. That's what the challenge is all about!

Santa only has 23 days to get ready for the big ride! We don't want him to go through what he went through last year!!!

Here's his story:

1. Last year, he headed out on his normal route covering most of Europe first and then heading west. He shouted, "Now, Dasher, now Dancer!" and thought he heard an echo, "Now, Dasher, now Dancer!" Then, he said, "Now, Prancer and Vixen!" and he heard, "Now, Prancer and Vixen!" Every word he spoke was echoed back at him! You can imagine how annoying that can be.
2. After a while, he realized the echo was coming from his bag of toys! He pulled over somewhere in Ireland and checked his bag. The echo was coming from a Teddy Bear! He checked, and there was no switch to turn it off! One of the elves must have been responsible for this.
3. Well, you can't drive a team of reindeer without shouting some commands, so you can imagine how annoying that bear was by the time he got to North America!! He decided that bear was going to be returned to the North Pole. He planned to give little Greta Gobstopper some Barbie dolls instead.
4. One more little issue came up when he stopped at 10 year old Cornelius Doilyslobber's house. It was 3:00 A.M., and that boy was still up!! You see, Cornelius is kind of a hyperactive kid, and he had way too many sugar cookies before bedtime. He was running around all over that house!
5. Santa had planned to leave him a drum, but he decided, "That boy's mother was such a good little girl. I just can't do that to her!" Santa thought the boy might be musically inclined and didn't want to inhibit that talent, so he left him a small keyboard instead, complete with earphones. He knew the boy's mother would appreciate those!
6. Santa brought back the drums and that annoying Teddy Bear, and they are still on his shelf in his workshop at the North Pole. "It sure would be nice to know ahead of time what NOT to bring people for Christmas," he thought.

That's our mission. We are having our tea party at the Silver Legacy Hotel/Casino in Reno, Nevada (my neck of the woods). We have to get together and make a list of items NOT to bring!! (While you're here, you might want to take in a show like "Holiday on Ice" at the Eldorado Hotel/Casino, right next to the Silver Legacy!)

The challenge is to make a card showing the worst present you can imagine for you or anyone in your family, OR you can make a card showing the best present you ever received or what you or your family would like the most. You need to tell us in your description which it is and why. Please post to SCS using MMTPT70 as a keyword or post to your blog and link to it in the comments here. Most importantly, have fun!!

Here is my teapot card. I drew Santa. He's an actual card. I water colored him and spent a little time on that belt! LOL! The drum and the Teddy Bear are just clip art that I printed on card stock and then cut out. You might notice that the handle and spout are backward from the original teapot. I guess that's just how my brain works these days!!! Thanks for stopping by and for putting up with my long story!!

Non-Traditional (Mojo115)

This is for the Mojo Monday Challenge. This card is only 4-1/4" square in is made with non-traditional colors. I just cut out the candy canes from the patterned paper and used them as the main image. The only stamping was the sentiment. I will be back later to post the Teapot Tuesday Challenge. Aren't you excited?!!! Thanks for stopping by!!!

• Stamps: All Holidays
• Papers: Basic Black, Pink Passion, GP White, DCWV DP
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: Circle, Scallop Circle, Rectangular and Scallop Rectangular Nesties, Big Shot Machine, Hot Pink Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Sneaky Peek (MMTPT70)

Besides being the Featured Stamper today, I'm the hostess for this week's Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge!! I'm trying to get ready for that as well as comment on all the lovely cards that every one has made with inspiration from one of my cards. It's been really fun to see how and by what people are inspired!! Anyway, back to the business at hand: This is a sneaky peek at the teapot for this week's challenge. I hope everyone has fun with this one! You will see the whole teapot on Tuesday morning (or maybe late Monday night)!!!

Featured Stamper

Well, I have no Featured Stamper card to show you today. Why? The Featured Stamper for this week turned out to be ME!!! Go to the Featured Stamper Challenge thread for more information. I am so honored! I've been making comments on every one's cards since I found out!! What a surprise it was when I checked my emails and found out that the Featured Stamper hostess, Beth (aka MyPrecious), had sent me a Private Message on SCS to congratulate me on being this week's Featured Stamper!! This is such a humbling experience for me. There are so many nice people saying so many nice things about my cards and my gallery! I just have no words to express the joy that I feel. It's so much fun to see how each individual gains inspiration from a card that I made. Several people chose the same card to CASE and it happens to be one of the cards I really don't like!! LOL! I guess THEY liked it though! Anyway, I have to get back to commenting on all the cards in the FS Gallery. I will try to post a card later. Thanks for visiting!!!

Sock Monkey Christmas (IC208)

For the Inspiration Challenge, we were to go to Oliebollen.com which is a site with "cool things for kids." I was inspired by the "Classic Sock Monkey." I stamped the image on Very Vanilla and again on Berry Bliss designer paper for paper piecing the body. I also stamp parts on some Real Red Patterns Pack designer paper for the mouth, backside and hat. I used Liquid Applique on the hat for fluff. The background was embossed with Petals-A-Plenty Impressions Folder, and the monkey is popped up on Dimensionals. The sentiment was heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder. All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks again for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Sock Monkey, Sock Monkey Accessories, Four the Holidays
• Papers: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Berry Bliss DSP, Patterns Pack DSP (Real Red)
• Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, Versamark
• Accessories: Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty EF, Snips, Dimensionals, Gold EP, Heat Tool, Liquid Applique

Just Beclause (TSC1127)

Our Twisted Sistahs Challenge this week was to use buttons and bows. I already posted the gift tag that I made, but I wanted to make an actual card, too. This is a "side step" card. I like this technique. I used the "Just Beclause" set (Holiday Mini) using the Santa on the large panel in the back, the December 25th stamp on the tall, vertical panel, and the sentiment on the front panel. I made "presents" using Prints Pack paper (Real Red) which I adhered to more white for stiffness. The buttons are from the Bold Brights Buttons, and I used Silver Elastic Cord which is available from the Holiday Mini Catalog. Thanks again for stopping by!!!

Gift Tag

I haven't posted for a couple of days because I was editing for my daughter's e-magazine, then we went to my son's for Thanksgiving, and yesterday I went and bought a new camera. It was one of the "door buster" deals at WalMart. I used it to take the photo shown above. I took several photos before I found out that it works best with the flash off when taking closeups like this. I plan on doing a couple of cards today, but I wanted to show the tag I made out of left-over wrapping paper. The cologne I bought for one of my daughters came with wrapping paper, silver elastic cord and the white bow. I embossed the piece of wrapping paper with Petals a Plenty Impressions folder from Stampin' Up! I punched the corners of the embossed piece and the Whisper White piece and glued them together. I used a Metallic Eyelet (silver) and Silver Cord to attach the tag to the bow. I wrote the "To" and "From" on the back and attached a snowman button (with the loop cut off) with a Pop-up Glue Dot. I think it's simple but effective! Everything used to make the tag is from Stampin' Up! except for the button. Thanks for stopping by!

Red on a Rose (MMTPT69)

Our Teapot Tuesday Challenge was hosted by Maureen Vollaro who is one of the Twisted Sistahs. She did a great job with the challenge. We are having our tea party at the Grand Ol' Opry and must bring a card with a rose on it or something inspired by a country tune. My card has a rose that WAS inspired by the Alan Jackson tune, "Like Red on a Rose." You can hear it and see the lyrics here. This was a fun challenge! The rose was embossed with gold and colored with water color crayon and aqua painter with Real Red Marker to darken. Everything used to make this card came from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
• Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White
• Ink: Handsome Hunter, SU! Markers, Versamark
• Accessories: Big Shot, Manhattan Flower EF, Gold EP, WCW Crayon, Aqua Painter, Snips

Glow (CAS42)

The Clean & Simple Challenge was for us to use sponging on our CAS cards. I wanted this to look like there's a glow coming from behind the flowers. How did I do? I sponged with Summer Sun, adhered leaves punched from Handsome Hunter, added embossed flowers punched from Regal Rose, stamped the sentiment, and added the rhinestones to the flower centers. This all took about ten minutes! Everything used to make this card, except the leaf punch, is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Papers: Naturals White, Handsome Hunter, Regal Rose
• Ink: Summer Sun
• Accessories: MS Leaf Punch, Flower Trio Punch, Mat Pack, Stylus, Rhinestones, Sponge

CASEing Biggan (FS146)

This week's Featured Stamper is Biggan. Her real name is Birgit and she lives in Sweden. We do have several stampers in Europe and other places around the world. Everyone knows Birgit. She has such a talent! I chose to CASE this card. Now, I just loved her simple Christmas candle, but I have NO candle stamps! I don't have a pine cone stamp that is big enough, either. I had to make the candle and pine cone by hand. I added liquid applique to the candle to make it look like flowing wax. I punched my pine branches. I used real ribbon, and I embossed the sentiment. I gave it a shot anyway!! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Sincere Salutations
• Papers: Naturals White, Textured Card Front, Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Garden Green
• Ink: Versamark, SU! Markers
• Accessories: Gold EP, Heat Tool, Liquid Applique, Branch Punch, Ribbon, Half Pearls

Get Well Flower (IC207)

Today's Inspiration Challenge was to go to the aimoobaroo site to get our inspiration. I was inspired by this ring. Someone commented on one of my cards today, and I went to her gallery and found a treat bag with a flower made out of folded pieces of Scallop Circle Punched designer series paper (DSP). She had a link to a video which explained how to do the folding with a larger scallop circle. She adapted hers to the Scallop Circle Punch, and so did I. Here is her Thanksgiving Treats. All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for visiting my blog today!!

• Stamps: Sincere Salutations
• Papers: Close To Cocoa, Pretty In Pink, Berry Bliss DSP (retired)
• Ink: Close To Cocoa
• Accessories: Big Shot, SU! Impressions Folder, Scallop Circle Punch, Flower Trio Punch, Pretty In Pink Brad

Leather & Lace (TSC1120)

Our Twisted Sistah's Challenge was to use Leather and Lace on a card (or other project). My leather is the faux leather strip that I made out of Creamy Caramel card stock which was embossed with a Fiskars Texture Plate (Leather) and then sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. My lace is the blue strip that was punched with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Border Punch. Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, All Holidays
• Papers: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: Fiskars Leather Texture Plate, Big Shot, MS Border Punch, Sponge, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Brad

Celebrate (LSC247)

I haven't posted for a couple of days because I've been getting ready for another Stamp Camp. Also, I've had the worst back ache ever! Anyway, today's Limited Supplies Challenge was to make a long, tall card. I made mine a short, wide card; it's the same thing except the orientation is horizontal instead of vertical. I wanted to make a card that would be good for a male. I think most men can relate to quail!! Everything used to make this card is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Happy Together, Celebrate Everything
• Papers: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke
• Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, Close To Cocoa, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie
• Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Sponge, Distressing Tool, WCW Crayons, Aqua Painter

Side Step Card (MMTPT68)

We are continuing with Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenges while Cindy is away. MariLynn hosted the challenge this week. Her challenge was to make a card that shows what we are thankful for, or we could be inspired by the little teapot with the cardinals on it. I'm thankful for the four seasons that the Lord has blessed us with. I like winter when it snows. I love that white stuff! I like spring when everything starts coming to life. I like summer when we do more outside activities like barbecuing and camping. I love the colors of fall, too! Here's an interesting fact: I have a fruitless mulberry tree in my front yard. It has lost all of its leaves. Now, I live in a corner house and the leaves were ALL OVER the yard, but today, it's VERY windy. The wind blows all my leaves away!! I guess the people down at the end of the block have to deal with it! LOL! This card is called a "side step" card. I'm going to make a tutorial for this one. I will post it if any one's interested. It's actually pretty simple. You just have to know where to cut and score.
This view shows the card from the right so that you could get a better look at it. I think this one would be great for a man or a woman. All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Grateful Greetings
• Papers: Naturals White, Garden Green, Flock Together DSP
• Ink: Close To Cocoa, Old Olive, More Mustard, SU! Markers
• Accessories: Sponge, Snips, Paper Trimmer, Stylus

Snowflake (CAS41)

Wow! I really do have to get used to that camera or switch back to my old one! Sorry for the bad photography! The Clean & Simple Challenge was an inspiration challenge this week. We were to go to Vera Bradley to get inspiration from one of the handbags. I chose this handbag for my inspiration. I was inspired by the color combo. I used Going Gray, Brilliant Blue, and Tempting Turquoise to try to recreate the color combo from the handbag. Everything, except the Cuttlebug embossing folder and the Cut & Emboss Combo, is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Short & Sweet
• Papers: Naturals White, Brilliant Blue, Going Gray, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
• Ink: Brilliant Blue
• Accessories: Big Shot, CB Snowflakes EF, CB Snowflake EF and Die, Word Window Punch, Snips, Rhinestone

CASEing TreasureOiler (FS145)

I'm using a different camera, so this photo turned out kind of dark I think. I'll just have to get used to it I guess. Today's Featured Stamper is TreasureOiler, aka Dawn. I have a few of her designs in my Favorites! I chose to CASE this card. Her card was a sketch card, and one of the rules of the Featured Stamper Challenge is that, if the card is another person's sketch design, you must change the layout, so I did. I also changed the stamp, papers, ribbon and button. I like how she used the button in the middle of the bow with the Linen Thread! Everything, except the ribbon and button, came from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Mr. Twigster
• Papers: Real Red, Garden Green, Very Vanilla, Merry Moments DSP
• Ink: Black Stazon
• Accessories: WCW Crayons, Aqua Painter, Ribbon, Button, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots

CASEing Perk (TSC1113)

Our Twisted Sistah Challenge this week was a "Featured Stamper" challenge. We were to CASE one of our own sistahs, coffeestamper, aka Perk, aka Sue. I chose this card. I just changed the colors and the ribbon, and I used designer paper instead of stamping my own background. Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Snow Swirled
• Papers: Naturals White, Garden Green, Whisper White, Merry Moments DSP
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: Green EP, Heat Tool, Ticket Corner Punch, Sheer Ribbon

Grateful Turkey (WT244, LSC246)

I was so busy getting ready for my club yesterday that I didn't have time to make a card. This card is a combination of two challenges: The Ways To Use It Challenge which was to use texture on our projects and the Limited Supplies Challenge which was to make a Thank You or Thanksgiving card which included a bird. For the texture, I embossed the More Mustard panel and then sponged it. The turkey came from someone on SCS, but I can't remember who it was. It may have been through the "Pay It Forward" thread. Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Whipper Snapper - Let's Talk Turkey, SU! Grateful Greetings
• Papers: Close To Cocoa, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, GP White
• Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: Big Shot, Tiny Mosaics EF, Sponge, WCW Crayons, Aqua Painter, Snips, Dimensionals

Male Birthday (SC254)

Well, I'm on a computer that seems to work, but there's no printer attached to it. We can't find the cables! I had to memorize today's sketch, go to my craft room and make this card. It actually turned out like the sketch! LOL! I like the combination of Sage Shadow with Close to Cocoa. The polka dot card stock is specialty paper. It's double sided, but it's thick like heavy card stock. I love that stuff!! All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!!

• Stamps: Older & Wiser (Retired Level 3 Hostess Set)
• Papers: Sage Shadow, Close To Cocoa, Whisper White, To The Nines Specialty Paper
• Ink: Close To Cocoa, Sage Shadow (sponging), SU! Markers
• Accessories: Sponge, Big Shot, Backgrounds #1 Texturz Plate

Cool Dude (CAS40, SULNS45)

The SU! Late Night Stampers Challenge for this week has to do with the Holiday Extravaganza promoted by Stampin' Up! This month's Thursday Niters Club will be making a bag, a tag and a card. It's all done with one stamp set. I added silver half pearls for the snowman's buttons and larger ones in the middle of the snowflakes on the bag. The tiny ones are also on the tag.

This week's Clean & Simple Challenge was a color challenge which was to use white and only one other color. Mine is white and Bashful Blue. All products used to make these items, except the pearls, are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Two Cool Dudes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Papers: Naturals White, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
• Ink: Bashful Blue
• Accessories: Snips, Silver Half Pearls, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Silver Cord and White Eyelet on tag, Small Gift Bag, Tissue

Crash!!!

Well, I got my computer back. I had to go online to download the drivers for my printer and install that. I also had to figure out why the icons on my desktop were so huge. I managed to change the settings and get those back to the right size. I couldn't figure out why there was no task bar at the bottom though. My son, 14, played around with it and figured out that the computer thought I had two monitors, so when I minimized anything, you could see it fly off to the right, never to be seen again. He got those settings fixed so I had a taskbar! Wow! We spent a lot of time on it, but I was able to post my Featured Stamper card yesterday evening. I got on it this morning and, while I was checking my email (after playing around for about an hour, it crashed again!! It will not get past the Windows XP logo before it freezes up again!! Back to the shop it goes. I did do the Clean & Simple Challenge this morning, but I can't upload until I find the little cable that goes between the camera and this laptop! Catch ya later, I hope!!!

CASEing Christine (FS144)

I'm back!! Today's Featured Stamper was Chrisations.ink. Christine was one of the first people I ever chatted with on Split Coast Stampers. I'm so happy for her! I CASEd her "CMM CHICK THANKS" card. I changed it from red to rose, I changed the layout a little bit since it was a sketch card, I changed the ribbon and ribbon treatment, and I changed it from white glitter dots to black half pearls. Everything used to make this card, except the pearls, came from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by; it's good to be back!!

• Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes
• Papers: Regal Rose, Basic Black, Whisper White, Loves Me DSP (retired)
• Ink: Black Stazon, In-Color Markers
• Accessories: Melon Mambo Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Computer Crash

I am on my son's laptop (formerly MY laptop). My computer crashed at 7:35 AM yesterday morning. I took it to the computer repair shop yesterday afternoon. I won't get it back until Monday probably. Please be patient with me; I have a lot going on! I will start posting again as soon as I can. The card I made yesterday morning was yucky anyway! LOL! I will post again as soon as I can. My son and I are going to figure out how to save photos on this laptop, then, I can post even before I get my own computer back!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Love That Cowboy! (SC253)

I made this card yesterday morning before we went to Bible Study (My mother is here now.), and I uploaded to SCS but forgot to post it here. I love the cowboy images that my friend sent me! He worked out perfectly with this week's sketch. To make those tabs, I punched Close To Cocoa with a 1-3/8" Square Punch, cut it in half and sponged the edge that can be seen. I punched Going Gray (although it doesn't matter what color you use) with the Photo Corner Punch, covered the pieces with Versamark and embossed with Silver Embossing Powder. After adhering the embossed pieces to the triangular pieces, I added silver brads. The Creamy Caramel panel was embossed using Fiskars Leather Texture Plate and sponged with Chocolate Chip. The main image panel was also sponged. All products used to make this card, except for the texture plate, are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Wild Wild West
• Papers: Close To Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Going Gray
• Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
• Accessories: Silver EP, Heat Tool, Sponge, Brads, Leather Texture Plate

Horsepower! (MMTPT66, CC243)

This is for the Color Challenge on SCS which was to use all neutrals except for color in the images and embellishments. This is also for Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge. The teapot this week is silver which reminds Cindy of the Balloon Boy incident. Now, that reminded her that Santa is having trouble with his transportation this year. We were asked to find alternate methods of transportation for Santa. Well, this is a specially designed sleigh and that horse can fly! He can get to the moon and back in 6.2 seconds! Looks can really be deceiving!! LOL! Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Yuletide Christmas (Holiday Mini)
• Papers: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
• Ink: Garden Green, Close to Cocoa, SU! Markers
• Accessories: Big Shot, CB Snow Dots EF, Coluzzle, Red Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Western Mojo (Mojo111)

I guess I'm in a Western mood today! I did the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge with this Wild Wild West image that was sent to me by my good friend and Twisted Sistah, Pat Smethers. I wish I had that set, but it's been retired for some time now. The image was water colored and the mat was distressed. All products used to make this card were from Stampin' Up! Thanks again for stopping by today!!!

• Stamps: Wild Wild West (retired), Woodgrain Background Stamp
• Papers: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Brushed Silver, Autumn Vines DSP (retired)
• Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: WCW Crayons, Aqua Painter, Distressing Tool, Sponge, Star Punches, Dimensional, Silver Brads

Masculine CAS (CAS39, SULNS44)

The Clean and Simple Challenge was a sketch challenge based on this card. The Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers Yahoo Group's challenge for this week was to make a masculine card. I combined both challenges and came up with this card. For some reason, when I make a manly card, I have to do sponging; it just has to be dirty looking! LOL! All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!!

• Stamps: Wanted
• Papers: Close To Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, To the Nines Specialty DSP
• Ink: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black
• Accessories: Coluzzle Ovals, Stylized Silver HPH, Natural Hemp Twine, Dimensionals

CASEing MissBoo (FS143)

Our Featured Stamper for this week is Miss Boo. Jen is our Clean & Simple Challenge hostess. Of course, she has many CAS cards in her gallery. I chose to CASE this card. The changes I made are: stamps, papers, ribbon, and no black. I started out with a white base card and stamped the image on white; however, when I picked out the diagonally striped designer series paper, I found that it looked much better on a Vanilla background. Now, I wish I had stamped the image on Vanilla! Next time, I will! All products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Papers: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Whisper White, Merry Moments DSP
• Ink: Black Stazon
• Accessories: WCW Crayons, Aqua Painter, Red Gingham Ribbon