Hot Dog, It's Halloween! ;)

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice, of course!

Hello, everyone! Happy Halloween to you! while I'm not so big on this holiday, (please don't throw your rotten pumpkins at me!) we do have a great time over at our friends' house each year giving out free hot dogs to all of the trick-or-treaters in our town. we loving call it the 'Hot Dog House,' and it's great fun!

this is a tradition that has been going on for over 12 years. we give away free hot dogs, fresh off of the grill, along with hot cocoa and water. it's wonderful to see people stop by year after year and catch up with old friends.

I, personally, haven't been able to attend since my cancer diagnosis, so this will be  my first time to go in a while. I'm really looking forward to it!

I know there hasn't been anything crafty posted in a week, but behind the scenes I am a busy little worker bee! some fun stuff will be coming soon, I promise. :)

enjoy your weekend, whatever you do. :)

I'm Going Batty over this FUN News!

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Nut Creme

Today I get to share with you some most amazing news - I have been accepted onto the Really Reasonable Ribbon Design Team!!!!!

if you have ever been to the RRR blog or played along in the challenges, then you know that this team contains some of the most talented people in all of crafty land! that they would want little ol' me just knocked my ever lovin' socks right off! I probably screamed and squealed loud enough to startle the folks in Canada when that email message came through. ;) thanks to Bonnie for giving me the chance! :)

to start off my term in proper fashion, I have a little project to share with you.

several weeks ago I won some cute dies by Lawn Fawn, courtesy of Lori at Choux Choux Paper Art. I thought they would make great treats to give/send to friends and family for Halloween.

using free  digital papers I found at Far Far Hill, I die cut the pillow box bat bodies and bat wings. faces and ears were cut from solid black cs and then googly eyes were added for a fun touch. edges were distressed with black ink before assembling. little goodie bags filled with Harvest M&M's are inside.... yum yum! :)

the bats are decorated with orange burlap string, black burlap string, orange plaid ribbon with black stitching, Gladys black crochet lace, and Catherine white crochet lace.

some of the little bats were packaged together in cellophane gift bags tied with itsy bitsy spider grosgrain ribbon. I love the way it looks as if their wings are covering their eyes for a game of hide 'n seek! :)

Please be sure to stop by the RRR blog to say a big hidey ho to all of the Design Team members! check out the store for some wonderful ribbons, too. they are sooooooooo lush! :)

Fall Vacation

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Howdy, hello, hey to each of you!  I know that there has been so little  posted here for the past few days. sorry about that, but hubby and I have been on a little Fall Stay-cation. :)

He took a few days off from work and we've just been driving around the area enjoying the gorgeous autumn weather & changing leaves. it's truly beautiful here right now!

pardon the antenna in the above photo.... kinda hard to get a good photo with the camera hanging out the window and NOT get it in the picture! ;)

I am so blessed to live in such a gorgeous area! this photo was taken not far from our home. now you can see why I am such a nature baby. I NEED my trees around me. my soul just finds such peace when I am surrounded by nature and all God has created.

Dave and I did some fun antiquing, had great lunches out, but more than anything, just enjoyed one another's company! he is such a great guy and truly my bestest friend in the whole wide world! :) again, I am blessed beyond belief!!! :)

on another note, I never heard from the purple themed blog candy winner, so I added some of the goodies to Bad Kitty's prize package. will save the others for an upcoming blog candy.

check back tomorrow for a fun post with LOTS of big news! :) until then, know you are loved!

Hop to Stop Purple Blog Candy Winner!

Coffee of the Day - Amaretto

Hello and Happy Saturday to everyone! I am here to announce the winner of the 'Hop to Stop' purple themed blog candy!

Christine D. is the winner! wooo hoooooo! please contact me at jenscull at yahoo dot com with your mailing address, this weekend if at all possible. If I haven't heard from you by Monday evening, I will need to choose another winner.

also, could Bad Kitty please get in touch with me as well? I have a little prize for the runner up that I would like to send out. :) just goes to show you can live anywhere in the world and still be a winner here. :)

found out this morning that we have company coming later today to stay for the weekend, so I am in frenzy cleaning mode.... hope y'all have a good one!

big hugs to everyone! and thanks for stopping by! :)

Eek! A Zombie ATC

I'm back with my 2nd Simply Betty zombie ATC, as I had mentioned this morning. This time I'm using the Singing Betty Apocalypse zombie image that was given free for that particular challenge. Even though today is the last day to get entries in, I bet you still have time to request your image. all you actually have to do is color the image and get it uploaded to the proper album. not so hard to do in just a few hours. :)

As before, I still haven't tracked down the mfg. of the paper scraps I found on my desk. will do that soon and try to update the posts. 'eek!' journaling circle and ric rack are from the same Making Memories Vintage Findings kit I used before, pretty purple flower is from Michael's, washi tape is from my stash, and button is vintage.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

I will have the purple themed blog candy winner later, after the other winners from The Hop to Stop are posted over on The Damsel of Distressed. I want to try to spread the winnings out to as many people as possible. :)

 Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Crafty Catz - anything goes
Pattie's Creations - fall or Halloween image
Simply Create Too - Halloween colors
Stamping Boutique - purple, orange, and black
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Star Stampz - Halloween or Harvest
Crafty Gals Corner - witches, ghouls, and goblins
Get Creative - Halloween
Pile it On - funky or freaky
Robyn's Fetish - lots of orange

Beware the Zombie! ATC

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Happy Friday to each of you! I hope you have had a wonderful week and have great things planned for the weekend! :)

my week has been CRAZY! between car shopping, another son in a car accident, a sick dog, and life in general, things have sure seemed whacky around here.

we did get another vehicle, so thanks for all of the happy thoughts on that front. here is a photo of Dave and Tyler with our 04 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (taken at Camp) it's in pretty good shape. just needed new tires and a front end alignment, at least so far! a few other small things to do to it, and then we'll feel set for winter.

speaking of which, snow is in the forecast for this weekend. time to bundle up! :)

I have SO MANY craft projects percolating behind the scenes, some of which are holiday gifts. in the mean time, I played along in a quickie challenge over at the Simply Betty Facebook Fan Page. if you requested the free image, you just needed to color it and then add to the group album. I figured I could do that! I'll post another one later today once I get it finished.

I turned it into an ATC. sorry I don't know the paper right off hand. it was a scrap sitting on my desk and just too perfect to pass up! the bat, ric rack, and beware tag come from a Making Memories vintage findings kit. I really hate that they retired that line. they were always so much fun to  play with! :) little flower and button are real vintage and washi tapes are from my stash. the metal accents on the image were highlighted with a silver glitter gel pen.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

As I mentioned before, I'll be back later today with the other Simply Betty image. I'll also announce then the winner of the purple themed blog candy. :)  see you then!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Dragon's Lair - Halloween
Left of Center - old fashioned horror (can't beat Romero's zombies!)
Aud Sentiments - Halloween
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Quoth the Raven - color challenge
Crafting By Designs - Halloween
Dream Valley - Halloween
Our Crafty Corner - getting ready for Halloween
ATC Around the World - Halloween

Bee Skep

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

Sending beautiful Sunday morning blessings to all of you today!

I know I've been hit or miss with my postings and all but absent when it comes to visiting everyone. we still haven't been able to find that 'one' vehicle for us yet.... sigh.... thought we were buying one on Friday, but the buyer sold it out from under us. oh well. just wasn't meant to be. means the hunt continues into next week. good golly, this is getting tiring! on the positive side, I do love spending time with my honey bunny! grins!

but on the crafty front, I was able to get to my craft room yesterday and just PLAY! this is what I came up with...

every month Crafty Secrets has a linky party. all you have to do is use any of their products to be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate to their wonderful store. I needed a thank you for our pastor & his wife, who have let us borrow a car for the past 2 weeks. we are returning it today, so this seemed perfect to go with the linky party challenge theme of 'Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart.'

Images are from the Crafty Secrets 'Queen Bee' digital set, paper is from the My Mind's Eye Be Amazing collection, ribbons are by Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are from Michael's and Wild Orchid Crafts, heart banner die is by La La Land, tiny banner punch is SU!, and buttons are from my vintage stash. oh yes, cute chevron bag is from Michael's as well. wings on the little bee are painted in shimmerz.

Have a most glorious day! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Love to Scrap - ribbon or lace, oh my
Art by Miran - anything goes
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Wags 'n Whiskers - use a die cut (La La Land and Spellbinders)
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Simply Papercrafts - anything goes
Kraftn' Kimmie Wonderful Wed - anything goes
Emerald Faeries - buttons and bows
Polkadoodles - use a die cut (La La Land and Spellbinders)

Happy Bear with Leaves

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

I have the honor today to have been invited as a Guest Designer over at Crafting By Designs! thank you so much for the privilege of joining in with your team for this week's "Autumn Colors" challenge theme! I had such fun making my project. :)

I started with a wonderful leaf card template by ShapeEZ by TLC using papers from the Basic Grey Pyrus collection. the cutey bear with autumn leaves image is by Sassy Cheryl. ribbons are from Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, and buttons are from my vintage stash. fun little doily is from Etsy. the leaves on the main image were covered in distress stickles, and I added a few dots along the card base with my marker.

I do hope you will join the challenge with all of us! there are so many neat projects you can make for fall! :)

thanks so much for stopping by! we are still on the look-out for another vehicle, so I'll be around to visit all of you later. :)

Challenges:
Craft-Dee BowZ - anything goes with a handmade bow
Eureka - autumn leaves/colors of fall
Simon Says Stamp Mon Ch - autumn is in the air
TTCRD - anything goes
Pile it On - 1, 2, 3 recipe (1 image or doily, 2 ribbons or dec. papers, 3 buttons)
Robyn's Fetish - real or faux leaves
Fussy and Fancy - autumn colors
Simply Create Too - autumn splendor
Scrap & Craft - colors of autumn
Creative Moments - anything goes with autumn colors
Mod Squad - get your fall on

Car Shopping

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (no, I never really get tired of it! tee hee!)

So I've been a wee bit on the absentee side lately.... sorry about that. we are still trying to hunt down a replacement vehicle, and good golly gosh, it is quite the adventure! Dave and I have spent several days driving all over kingdom come looking at so many types of SUV, with various forms of wear and tear. but we sure do have fun together! :)

still no closer to finding 'the right one' just yet, but I am sure it is right around the corner.

because of where we live and Dave's work needs, it's necessary for us to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. we just get too much snow for so much of the year to try to get around in anything else. and it has to be able to haul a LOT of stuff for Camp. so that narrows down the field of potential cars quite a bit. but as I said before, we are having fun in our quest together. my hubby is pretty fabulous, and I so love to spend time with him!

have a project to share with you tomorrow, so I do hope you'll pop back by for that. I do promise to get around to all of your blogs once we get this 'new to us' vehicle purchase settled. by the time we get back home in the evenings, I am one whopped puppy!

hugs to all of you! :)

Ribbon Spool Mousies

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Nut Cream

Happy Sunday to each of you! I'm back with a mid-way inspiration post as part of my Guest Designer spot over at Quirky Crafts. The challenge theme is 'Sewn with Love' and is sponsored by the ever so fabulous Cutting Cafe.

My card base is the Ribbon Spool card template. it also comes with the files to make a cute box. a piece of Basic Grey Picadilly paper is wrapped with vintage lace, floral ric rac from Really Reasonable Ribbon, pale blue crochet trim from my stash, and some silver cording. flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and that adorable little scissor charm is from Etsy. button, clothing label, and little snap are all vintage.

of course the star of the show is the House Mouse stamp! the pin heads on the image were accented with a spica clear glitter pen.

I do hope you will play along in the challenge! thanks so much for stopping by. :) I'm also linking this with the Simon Says Stamps WCMD projects.

Challenges:
House Mouse and Friends - Fall/Halloween or anything goes
Gruffies and Guests - embossing or anything goes
Crafty Time - shaped cards
Lia Stampz - animals
Dragonfly Dreams - ribbons and bows
Brown Sugar - shabby chic
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Creative Knockouts - lots of layers

Owl Be There and Coffee Blog Candy Winner

Coffee of the Day - French Vanilla

I have a card to share with all of you, but I'm sure you aren't really that interested in it since I mentioned in the post title that I have the winner of my blog candy to announce! :)

Our friend at the random.org has chosen Shirl as the winner this time! hooray for YOU! :)  please send me an email (I'll also try to send you one shortly) with your mailing address so I can get this postal the first part of next week.

thank you to everyone who entered! I do have a purple themed blog candy at this post if you would like to try for that one.

now on to my card....

Paulette at Create with TLC has a freebie on her blog for World Card Making Day. I paired it with a sentiment of hers to make a card to send to one of my guys. thought it would be a great 'encouragement' type card for one of them.

bg paper is Basic Grey Juniper Berry, flower is Petaloo, leaf is Prima, olive crochet trim is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and buttons are all vintage. linen thread and sentiment punch are by SU!

I re-purposed a Starbuck's coffee sleeve behind the main image and added distress stickles to the pine needles for a bit of texture. it's not easy to see, but there is a double border of faux stitching around the edge.

Hope your weekend is going well so far. it is cold and rainy here, but that is our typical fall weather for the most part. don't mind as it's perfect for coffee AND crafts! :)

Challenges:
Allsorts - nature
Crafts 4 Eternity - woodland
Star Stampz - add a sentiment
Fresh Brewed Designs - the great outdoors
Shopping Our Stash - wooden it be nice (wooden decorative paper & woodgrain button)
Dragonfly Journeys - what a hoot

This Squirrel is Nuts About Coffee!

Coffee of the Day - Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Well it's the last official day of the Fall Coffee Lover's Blog Hop... there have been so many amazing projects made, and I haven't seen even half of them yet! :) I hope to get around to a few more blogs, but also need to get my home in order because we have company coming later today... guess I need a few more cups of coffee to get me going! ha!

I had to have my final project honor the cutie squirrels that live all around our house. and of course, any squirrel around here would HAVE to have a coffee cup in his little bitty hands!

this adorable image comes from Toadstool Printables. isn't he just so much fun?! the great acorn card template is from ShapeEZ by TLC. not sure if she has it in the shop right now or not, but you could certainly send her a message if she doesn't. Tammy is just as nice as can be! since I don't have an electronic cutting machine, I appreciate people who include files for folks like me who have to cut things out by hand.

the paper on the acorn is by Simple Stories while the leaves are cut from Basic Grey Indian Summer papers. they were cut with a Tim Holtz die and then sprayed with 2 shades of glimmer mist. the acorn top was also sprayed with glimmer mist. yes, I do like that stuff!

the mulberry leaves are by Prima, the burlap ribbon is May Arts, the burlap twine comes from Etsy, buttons are vintage, and that fab sunflower is from Factory Direct Crafts.

please be sure to sign up for my coffee themed blog candy at this post. I will announce the winner in the next few days. :)

Have a great weekend!

Challenges:
Crafting With An Attitude - anything goes
Crafty Girls Creations - anything goes
Hanna & Friends - special card form
Whimsy Inspires - anything goes or Halloween
The Male Room - autumn/fall
Simon Says Stamp Wed Ch - anything goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wed - anything goes
Cardz 4 Guyz - something with 'm' (mug, mist, mulberry leaves)
Creative Card Crew - masculine (yes, I firmly believe it can have a flower on it and still be masculine. my guys all like sunflowers! grins!)
Digi Choosday - something new (image is brand new & I've had the twine less than a month)
Papertake Weekly - take your pick (autumn color theme)
QKR - anything goes
Di's Digi Designs - animals acting like humans
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - animals

Thinking of You and The Hop To Stop

Coffee of the Day - Amaretto

Taking a wee break from coffee cards for a VERY important post/blog hop today. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and this hop is designed to raise awareness about domestic violence, an issue that impacts 1 in 3 women, and the resources that are available to assist victims of domestic violence.

For more information about domestic violence, its impacts, and available resources, visit the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

Crafters are being encouraged to create cards that feature purple, the color of domestic violence awareness. You can link your creations here, at The Damsel of Distressed. Some AMAZING sponsors have generously donated prizes. you can find more information at Becca's blog. she is pretty fabulous for putting this whole thing together! :)

I wanted my card to be bright and cheerful, so I pulled out those Basic Grey Grand Bazaar papers I used just the other day. what was I thinking, hiding them away in the paper pad basket?! the precious image is from Dilly Beans. I'm not sure if her store is still open or not, but I sure did have a great time back when I was on her DT. the wings are coated with a wink of stella clear glitter pen, flower centers are dotted with stickles, and the little heart on her dress is covered in distress stickles.

ribbon and crochet trim are from Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are a combo of Wild Orchid Crafts and Petaloo, sentiment stamp & little banner punch are SU!, and buttons are vintage. doily is from my stash. some faux stitching completes the card.

while I don't know what it is like to experience domestic violence, I was abused in other ways as a child and teen. it tears apart a person's self worth. I hope my card can let someone know that in the midst of the pain, there can be beauty and smiles are still possible.

Now for some exciting news to all of you reading this post - I have a purple themed blog candy to give away to one of YOU! :) but I am going to make you work for it, so be prepared! You will need to create a card for this Awareness hop and link it to Becca's blog, The Damsel of Distressed. you have to follow her criteria for entering. once you have linked your card to her blog, come back here and link your card in the blog candy link. that way I will know you have played along. it's really not that hard. ;) Blog Candy will run the length of the hop, thru Oct. 14. the winner will be announced within a few days after.

*Inlinkz tool removed per new privacy laws since all prizes have been claimed. thank you for your understanding. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Challenges:
Stella Says Sketch - sketch flipped on its side
Crafting By Designs - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Crafty Gals Corner - things with wings
Mod Squad - anything with wings
Craftin' Desert Divas Linky Party - things with wings
Get Creative - fantasy
Dragonfly Dreams - let's get girly
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Ch - stitching (faux)
Fussy and Fancy - fantasy
Dragon's Lair - photo inspiration
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
L'il Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
Moving Along With the Times - fairy enough

Why I WON'T be Going Pink this October...

October begins Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for many organizations it is all about turning their products pink & making donations to the leading breast cancer support groups. You can find everything from pink garbage collection bins (at least in my little town) to pink football jerseys on a Sunday afternoon television.

While I wholeheartedly support awareness toward ANY AND ALL types of cancer, I am not getting behind the pink ribbons this year. if you are new to my blog, you will learn that I am a bit of a rebel in some ways, but I do tend to stand up for what I believe in.

Several years ago I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. it has not been a fun or easy battle, by any means. but I have had the wonderful support of my family, friends, and some great people online. I have managed to live longer than I ever thought I would, truthfully. God has blessed me beyond measure. I am constantly in awe, and thankful. so very, very thankful.

But I am not blind to the reality of what goes on in many of the breast cancer pink ribbon groups that become so prevalent at this time of year. The bottom line is this - be informed. not only about breast cancer groups, but about any organization you financially support. do research. look into the products that turn themselves pink for a month or sport a pink ribbon. is that perfume or makeup with the pink ribbon really composed of toxic chemicals that actually CAUSE cancer?

When I was going through chemo, I used to joke that yes, I had no hair, was throwing up, and had no energy, but by golly, I was going to do my housework with that big shiny pink vacuum cleaner! of course the fact that we have no carpet in our house only added to the humor! :)

Check out Think Before You Pink for lots of information.

btw - there ARE things you can do to help people going through any kind of cancer journey. since you are probably a crafter if you are reading my blog, make cards for a local cancer center. I set up a box at my chemo center for everyone to go through and take as they needed. I believe Split Coast Stampers is running their annual 'Hope You Can Cling To' promotion to send cards to the cancer patients at MD Anderson in Texas.