Love is in the Air

Are you ready for this month's holiday? What do you have planned? We have reservations, but for some reason, I want to stay home. I have goodies in the freezer that would make a very romantic dinner. DH wants to go out to a steakhouse. It's his day, too, so we'll probably go out. I just know that I'll eat too many bad things, LOL. You see, the restaurant is fun - you start out with a cheese fondue. Next comes the salad. This is followed by cooking your steak on your own lava rock placed in front of you. The dinner is completed with a chocolate fondue. Now, you know why I want to stay home.....

I have a Never Ending card to share with you today. It's my first attempt. I have to say that the photos aren't that hot. I did go and get a frog for future photos, but these were already taken and I didn't want to retake them. I had fun with it, though. I used a variety of Magnolia stamps as well as other embellishments. This is the card I'll be giving to my sweet husband. The sentiment will go on the page with the circles. Here are the photos:

This is the cover of the card. The papers are so pretty in that there is a subtle sheen. The flowers sparkle. I used a mini Tilda stamp, Tilda with Hearts, available at Magnolia-licious. The bunny stamp is an older Magnolia which I always though was so cute! It's one of the first I ever got many years ago, LOL.



Page two is where I will write a personal message to my sweetheart. The glittery paper is "sugar coated" and sparkles so nicely. I used epoxy stickers and punched hearts from my stash.



The next page features another mini as well as additional Magnolia stamps. I apologize for the horrible photo. The card looks so much better in real life. My stamped images do NOT look all splotchy and the colors are very even and graduated. I did place a piece of clear packaging over the surface of the candy jar so that it looks like the cookies are behind glass. The embellishments are elevated.



For the final page, I used a Magnolia doohickey tag die. There are also some smaller epoxy stickers as well as punched shapes (heart and squares). All stamped images have been colored with distress inks.




I'll be submitting this card to the following challenges:

All That Scraps - Queen of Hearts
Totally Tilda- Tilda w/ Lots of Hearts
7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog - I {heart} You
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #97 - Hearts Gone Wild!
Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge - Romance
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Just Show Some Love
PapertakeWeekly - Have a Heart
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - Valentine's

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and tolerating my horrid photos of my never ending card! I so appreciate your visits!

Blessings,
Chris

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Black and yellow, black and yellow - green and gold, green and gold - decisions, decisions - which one will win? I think I'll be neutral and wear all yellow tomorrow! LOL I'll look like a lemon, but that's OK, right?

Are you doing anything special for Superbowl Sunday - a party, friends over, CRAFTING? I'm a sweet wife, so I'll be my hubby's football companion otherwise he'd be watching the game all alone. He'll appreciate that. I hate football. What can I say? Love means never having to say...oh, wait, that's wrong...Love means sharing what he likes to do!

There are a couple of commercials that I think are too funny - the one is a Dorito commercial where two guys are discussing Doritos. At the very end, one guy sticks the Dorito flavored index finger of the other guy right into his mouth! The second one is for Pepsi, I think. A couple is sitting on a park bench having a bite to eat. A gorgeous jogger runs by and sits on the bench next to the couple. The male half of the couple is distracted by the gorgeous jogger. The female half notices the distraction and tosses her hamburger (or was it a can of Pepsi?) at the guy who, right at the same time, bends over! The result is that whatever is thrown hits the jogger on the side of her head, knocks her right off the bench and onto the ground. The couple runs away leaving the gal on the ground. Both commercials have that unexpected twist which I find to be the best aspect. You didn't see "that" coming!

I have a couple of snack goodies all lined up. One is mini BLTs in puff pastry. It's easy and self contained! The other is soup. For us, soup is a must on Superbowl Sunday. I'm thinking cream of almond soup or split pea (hubby's fav). That's quite a contrast of flavors, isn't it? LOL Then, I got it into my head to go back in time and make a Chex Mix from the 1960s. When I looked for the recipe, I found one that said it was the original recipe. When I read it, it included pita chips! I don't think so! Pita chips weren't heard of back then! I dug a little deeper and found one that I think is the original as I remember it. We'll see.

I have been busy, busy, busy! I'd like to share a Valentine card with you. It's my second ever easel card. I had a little fun with it by placing Edwin inside the dry embossed bird cage, LOL. Of course, DH had a lot of "guy things" to say about Edwin in the cage. I won't share them here, ahem. I used punches, ribbon, pearls, Stickles, Bazzill, patterned papers by Bo Bunny, Distress Inks, and, of course, Magnolia Stamps. Tilda has been elevated on pop dots as are the little butterflies (which are also Magnolia stamped images). On the back is a little, white vellum envelope for a love note. I wish you could see all the embossed details on the bird cage, but white just isn't a good color for showing embossing. The cage is so beautiful!

Here's my creation:





I'm going to enter my card into the following challenges:

Crafty Emma - Red and Romance

Crazy 4 Challenges - Valentines

Creative Inspirations - Valentine's Day/Love

Paperplay Challenges - Stamp It Out

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Show Some Love


Thank you so very much for stopping by. I so love that you took the time to visit. Have fun tomorrow!

Blessings,
Chris

Sometimes Patience is a Virtue

Hi Everyone!

I need patience! LOL Don't you just hate it when your computer acts up and you don't know what to do to fix it? My desktop MAC went into the shop and came home no longer "talking" to my printer. *sigh* I haven't a clue why. I hooked up my laptop to the printer and they refused to "talk" to each other! So, a quick switch of printers and I was in business again. Ugh! I envy you "younguns" who are so at ease with a computer! I feel so helpless when I find I don't have the knowledge necessary to look at a computer problem and determine what to do to fix it!

I need patience! LOL My flower order from Wild Orchid still hasn't arrived. I've had to resort to using old flowers on cards! So, when you see upcoming cards, it's not because I wanted to use them. It's because that's all I had! LOL

I need patience! Are you seeing a pattern here? Does it take Stampin' Up two plus weeks to get an order to you? I ordered from their corporate site. Oh well. I'm practicing my patience. I really shouldn't be stalking the mailman, though.

I need patience. I had a knot in my stomach caused by that crazy computer that is no longer part of my life and has since been replaced by a brand new MAC! Of course, it isn't set up yet so I need patience!

Patience is a virtue. I'm practicing it each and every day. At this point, I believe I am trying to be extremely virtuous! LOL

I have a card to share today. It's a card that I sent as a thank you to our doctor. Here it is:





I used Distress Inks to color the image. Isn't she a cutie? I love that stamp! I elevated the bench and Tilda stamp just to add t the texture. Speaking of texture, I love the snow that I placed in the tree, cabin roof, and ground. For some reason, whatever that product is, I love playing with it! I have to admit - I thought this was Edwin! It wasn't until I started coloring that hair that I realized that it was pretty long for Edwin. I did a search for Bandaged Edwin and saw that that stamp was completely different! Then I searched for Bandaged Tilda and there she was. Well, I colored her in boy colors. So, it's now Edwin w/ long hair, LOL! Since I was giving it to our doctor, I wanted to keep the lines clean and - arghhh - no flowers! LOL Now, if our doctor was a woman, it would be different. I wanted it to be a masculine looking card. On the interior of the ard, I kep the same clean lines and added Basic Grey rub ons and border. I hope he likes it.

I've got some more images to share and will do so later this week, so please come back!

If, by chance, you see my Wild Orchid flower order sitting on a curb somewhere, would you please tell it to get a jiggle in its wiggle and get itself home to me, please! LOL

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your week. Thank you so much for stopping by. I love that you took the time to visit.

Blessings,
Chris Christensen

It's a Beautiful Day!

I have been having so much fun working with Distress Inks! I have completely come to screeching halt regarding my scrapbooking so I can make cards using Distress Inks! I surely didn't get this enthusiastic or driven with my Copics! I've been struggling with the water brushes I previously bought. Yesterday, though, I finally broke down and bought a set of Stampin' Up water brushes. I had bought a set of Aqua Flo water brushes, and they surely live up to their name - Aqua Flo! All they do is leave huge puddles on my papers! I'm not even holding the area where the water is! The water just gushes out and then what's the point? I was given a Pentel water brush as a RAK from a friend. That's the one I've been using. It's better than the Aqua Flo, but I want something even more consistent. The Pentel tends to either get too wet or too dry. It must be me! LOL

I have made a monochromatic card for my dear friend, Sharon. Her birthday is later this month and purple is her favorite color. I don't have a lot of purple stuff since I don't really care for the color. But, for Sharon, I dug through my stash for paper and cardstock. For this card, I chose to use a deep eggplant Bazzill cardstock with Stampin' Up papers in the same color family. I I used the Distress Inks to color the image, added flowers by Prima (which my sweet husband bought me as a surprise when he went to Vegas last Friday), and stamped the interior sentiment using Distress Ink on vellum so that the patterned paper can be seen beneath. The greeting on the front was metallic gold. I colored it purple with a Copic Marker. The lacy circle on the front is elevated using tiny foam pieces. It is also beautifully dry embossed. I used the same embossing set on the inside for the circles as well as that interesting shape on the inside top flap. It's a shame you cannot see the dry embossing. It's beautifiul! The embossing die is available at Crafts U Love. The adorable stamp, Tilda with Small Gift, is available as a preorder through Magnolia-licious! Diana at Magnolia-licious has all of this collection available as a preorder. If you stop by, be sure to check out her exclusive line of MAGNOLIA MINI STAMPS! You don't want to miss those!

I have chosen to enter this card into two challenges. The first is a monochromatic card challenge found at Cute Card Thursday. I'm not comfortable with challenges, but I figured why not? If my card is one thing, it's monochromatic! LOL The second challenge is a Use Your Stash challenge found at Sketch and Stash Here is my card:





Well, that's all she wrote (or created) folks! I hope you like my card. I want to thank sweet Zoe from Make It Crafty for sharing her expertise with me. Love ya!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I love having your visits. They mean the world to me!

XO,
Chris

Happy Three Day Weekend!

Thank you so much for all the sweet well wishes regarding my knees. I so appreciate it. The doctor prescribed three meds and I do NOT feel any pain at the present. I can't live on these medications and don't really know what the future holds. Without any cartilage, I don't have many options. DS says I played too hard when I was in my 20s and 30s. He may be right. That shouldn't have worn out my knees, though. Getting old is supposed to be fun! LOL

I have a card to share with you today that I hope you will like. It is my very first easel card! I'm so proud of myself, LOL! I thought it would be hard, but it wasn't at all! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Now, I know why everyone is making them! DAH!

I made this card for the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. The challenge was to use orange and green as the primary colors for your card. I love the color combination - it's bright and cheery. With that in mind, I wanted to make the card sentiment one that would also lift the spirits. So, using "Ruff" as a play on words, I went with the canine theme! I also thought I would enter it for a challenge found at Stamp Something. This challenge was to just stamp! So, I did (three times over, LOL).



I used three Magnolia images - Tilda from the new You're So Special Collection which is available as a preorder at Magnolia-licious as well as two Magnolia pooch images. Aren't they cute? I just love those furry faces! Can you tell I love Golden Retrievers? LOL

I colored the images using Distress Inks. The sparkly ribbon is from my ribbon supply. The flowers are Prima while the pearls are Kaiser. I had my desktop worked on and now it no longer reads my printer. So, since Necessity is the mother of invention, I had to use rub ons for the sentiments which are elevated on pop dots. I added a couple of dog bones to go with the themel The papers are from my scrap box. I KNEW there was a reason to keep them! LOL I wish I could find reasons to use all the other paper I cannot seem to part with!

I hope you like my card. I'm just tickled that I made an easel card!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I so appreciate it. Your visits are so special to me. Thank you!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Hello fabulous friends,

Would you believe the snow that fell over a week ago is still on our lawn? It's been that cold that it hasn't melted! I don't remember snow ever lasting this long! I'm getting an extra treat - seeing snow without having to clean it up! I'm sorry for those of you who are getting blasted with unassembled snowmen! I wouldn't want snow all the time.

Oh, and do you remember all the rain we had - with all the flooding? Well, all that water elevated the water level in Lake Mead two feet! Lake Mead is huge! It has a surface area of 247 miles and is 110 miles in length. For it to go up two feet is amazing. That's a lot of water (most of which came from our Virgin River).

It looked like snow here today. I got up at 4:30 A.M. and worked on a project. Then, I made avocado cornmeal muffins which were yummy! After lunch, I pulled out the slow cooker and got a huge pot of ham and bean soup going. My house smells soooo good!

I have two cards to share with you today. The first card is for DH's birthday later this month. I'm submitting it to Just Magnolia Week 89 challenge - My Favourite Things.I made the card a couple of days before the challenge was posted. I hope it counts. I used three Tilda stamps, a Magnolia background stamp, Distress Inks, two different texture pastes for the snow and snowballs, Icicle Stickles on the falling snowflakes and snow, and cotton for the hat pom poms and boot tops. The inside is also done with matching paper, ribbon, and stamp. It showcases one of my favorite things - snow! Living in the desert southwest, we don't get much snow like other areas. It's such a treat when we do! Click on thumbnail to see larger image. Here it is:



I am so loving using Distress Inks! They are just a pleasure to use!

The next card is a thinking of you card for a friend. For this card, I used Copic markers, black PP with silver foil swirls, silver metallic cardstock, Cuttlebug embossing folder, silver glittered cardstock for the punched snowflakes, texture paste for the snow on the ground, Stickles, Nesties, rhinestones, ribbon, and white cardstock. Here it is:



So, two cards using two different techniques. I hope those who get them love them. I sure hate parting with them! Do you find that the more you work on the cards with these adorable stamps, the harder it is to give them away? It sure is for me!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I know you have a busy, busy life. Your visits mean the world to me.

Have a good one!

XO,
Chris

I'm a Terrible Mother!

Why? Well, here is the Christmas card I made for DS. I just finished it today! Yes, we did send him a commercially made one. Yes, I think I have a good reason for being a WEEK LATE!!!! No, on second thought, I don't have a good reason. I have several mediocre reasons. First of all, I over did it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have two knees that need to be replaced. I am at war with those two joints. I have bone on bone. Standing, sitting, walking, any movement is painful. Even laying with my legs extended hurts. Now, with all that, I still managed to cook Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, and make all of the Christmas cards that needed to be mailed. Sitting at my scrap table hurt. Getting up and down to get supplies hurt. Spending 14 hours a day working on stuff hurt. So, onto the back burner were DH's anniversary card and DS's Christmas card. I knew better. I could have purchased Christmas cards to send to our friends and family, but nooooooooooooooo, punish those knees!

Then came the day when DH brought home some stamp pads for me to use. The stamp pads and I sat and looked at each other. I thought, "Will I be able to play nicely with you?" The stamp pads thought, "Why are you sitting there looking at us? Open some of us up and give us a try. You might like us." Well, I caved. I started ripping open the protective covers. I started working with the inks and a warm, fuzzy feeling swept over me from my head to my toes. Honestly, it made me happier than all the king crab I could eat at a Vegas buffet!

So, I promptly finished DH's anniversary card - it's the orange/yellow card in the previous entry. Next, I went to work on DS's card. I had the idea in my head, so I didn't have any planning. The minute I saw this Edwin stamp, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. It was just a matter of mind over knees.

This is the end result. After I finish posting this, I'm heading into the bedroom with ice packs. Maybe my knees will forgive me for beating the up so much for the past month. Maybe my DH and DS will understand. Maybe I'll forgive myself. I feel pretty crummy about not making their cards first. Stupid!





The details:

I used MS PP for the card and a variety of Ranger Distress Inks. There are some elements that have been elevated using pop dots. I stitched the "wire" using silver embroidery floss. The "lights" are gems I had in my stash. The circumference of the circle has been chalked and dry embossed using a metal die that does the cutting and embossing . I didn't have the right alphas for the greeting, so I took the silver ones I had and colored them using a dark green Copic marker. That worked! The flowers, border, and vine are all die cut using dies I had in my stash.

Thank you so much for coming by. I so appreciate your comments. I treasure each one and appreciate all the suggestions. I hope your New Year is amazing and so much better than you could imagine!

Love to you,

Chris