Joyful Christmas-Sweet Stop Sketch

How is it Saturday again already? Better, how is October over already?! This is my favorite time of year, but it goes by entirely too fast!

Being Saturday, it's time for another fun sketch brought to you by The Sweet Stop :). This one is a bit different from our usual sketches, but it's perfect for those small image stamps you might have so get thinking and see where your creativity takes you!

Here's my card to help get you thinking....

The set I used is called Christmas Itty Bitties. I hadn't thought of this set when I designed the sketch, but it was the perfect set for it :). It comes with 6 "inchie" sized images for Christmas and not only makes adorable holiday cards, but really cute tags and other projects, too :).

I am heading off to a friends house later today for a crop....and YES, I am planning to scrapbook! Can you believe it? I haven't scrapbooked in almost 3 years....basically since I started Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps! I just haven't had the time for it, but I am determined to get back into it so I am hoping today will give me the boost I need (or should I say head-first plunge!!).

Oh and one more thing......I almost forgot to tell you! We just added some GORGEOUS new papers to our site from Echo Park Paper Co. It's a brand new paper company introduced at CHA a few months ago and their papers are amazing! We have decided to carry a couple of their lines in 6x6 sampler packs so head over to Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and pre-order yours today! They will be arriving soon! We really want all of their lines, but we need to pace ourselves so it would be a huge help if you could let us know what other lines of their paper you'd like us to carry :).

Have a glorious day and don't forget to thank the good Lord above for the beauty all around you!

Hugs,

CAS Elegant Christmas

A real quick post today....so much to do, so little time....

This is one of the make 'n takes we did at the York Heirloom show. It was so well-received it sold out the set, but I am happy to say it is now back in stock :). You can find it here: Season of Love. This set has been our top seller since it was released so grab it while you can. It may not last long!

The frame is made from Nesties and then attached to the center of the card. Then the image and sentiment are stamped together in the center of the frame. I drew a frame around the frame with a silver Sharpie, added a rhinestone to the main star and viola! Super fast, but super wonderful :)!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a blessed day!

P.S. Mark your calendars for a HUGE blog hop Tuesday, November 9th starting on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog. We're celebrating our 3rd birthday!!

Give Thanks!

I have a quick and easy card for you today, no coloring, just gorgeous paper and a wonderful sentiment for the Tuesday Throwdown challenge: Sentimentally Yours.

The sentiment is from our new Blessings & Thanks clear stamp set.

On another note, I am praying for some of my loved ones today who are heavily burdened with sadness.....one is attending her uncle's funeral this morning and two others have loved ones who could pass at any moment.

May God grant each of you wisdom, grace and strength. I love you all!

Traditional Christmas-Sweet Stop Sketch

I just LOVE traditional Christmas colors. I don't know what it is about them, but I just think they are so beautiful together and they were perfect for my card for today's Sweet Stop sketch. This candle image (Christmas Candle), illustrated by Leah Cornelius, is one of my favorite Christmas images. Is has a timeless classic elegance type of feel to it and lends perfectly to the traditional Christmas colors. I paired it up with some gorgeous Die Cuts With a View papers and viola!

On a different note, Denise Marzec, aka peanutbee, came over this afternoon for a stamping play date and what a great time we had :). We talked mostly, she colored some images and I made a card, but it was a nice time and I look forward to doing it again :).

Thanks for stopping by!

Thankful for YOU!

Yippey! I have another card to share with you today :). I made this one for yesterday's SC sketch, too.

I used the adorable turkey image from our Gobble Gobble set and paired it up with some gorgeous papers from Prima (Urban Cosmos collection).

I have to run to physical therapy shortly, so this is a short one.....

Have a fabulous, Christ-centered day!

Happy Harvest!

Last night I got a spurt of mojo and made a few cards. Two are for upcoming sketches (check those off my list), but this one is for today's sketch on SCS. I just happened to be online when the challenge was posted and since I wasn't really quite ready for bed, I thought I'd give it a go.

I already had this image colored so I grabbed some papers and set to work. It really didn't take long to put this together and although it's not my favorite card, it certainly works :).

The stamp set is called Sweet Pumpkin. The papers are Apple Cider by Imaginicse.

Thanks for stopping by today~

Hugs and blessings,

Snow-one like you!

This past weekend was a crazy busy one...much like the weekend before ;). I had the great pleasure of hosting Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps make 'n takes at two local stores, Joys of Life Scrapbooking in Mechanicsburg and L&L Rubber Stamps in Ephrata (1015 Frys Road, phone: 717-355-5115), during the Annual Buggies and Buds Shop Hop. What a fun time I had meeting so many fantastic stampers and scrapbookers!

The card I have to share with you today is the one we made on Saturday at L&L. Everyone loved the cute little snowman, sweet saying and the snowflakes and sparkle. It was a fun make 'n take for sure :).

The stamp set we used is called Snow Friends. To create the card we stamped the various sized snowflakes all over the card base, some second generation to make them lighter, and then sponged around the edges. Then we stamped the sentiment and snowman, colored the snowman with Copics and sponged the edges. The image/sentiment panel was attached with foam tape for a bit of dimension and then finally the ribbon, snowflake embellishment and Stickles were added.

I hope you like it, too!

Blessings,

Seeing the joy in sorrow....

Do you ever have those days where you just want to climb back into bed and sleep until the next day? Well, unfortunately, if you did that your troubles would still be there the next day. We just can't sleep them away.

How about instead of climbing back into bed and sleeping the day away you try looking for the joy in your sorrows.......I promise you will find it.

The last two days have been a bit rough here, but God is faithful and He will never forsake me. He loves me and wants what is best for me. I may not know the exact reason why I go through the trials and the pain, but I can stand on HIS promises that He is with me and that He has my best interest at heart. He is molding me and making me more like His Son--Praise God! With each tear that I cry and each heart ache I endure, my Sovereign Heavenly Father is helping me to grow more...to love Him more....to lean on Him more.....to praise Him more.

Thank you, Father, for loving me so much! Use me for YOUR glory, till you call me home!

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

More Love for Cocoa?

It seems this little guy has become somewhat of a household name around here. We get so many notes from customers telling us to "keep him coming". It really just cracks me up. The whole Cocoa Mouse craze started with this image last year. It was our first Cocoa image, a digital stamp called Sweet Cocoa. I named him Cocoa because he looks to be soaking in a nice warm cup of cocoa in this image. Now I don't know about you, but if I found a little mouse soaking in my cup of warm cocoa, I can tell you I wouldn't think it was cute! LOL! Yet, somehow when it's not real, we think is the cutest thing ever ;). Weird I know....

Anyway, I am thrilled to announce that this sweet Cocoa image will be debuting as a clear stamp set in just a few short weeks, November 1st to be exact, so if you are one of those customers who has been wanting this image as a clear stamp since he came out as a digi last year, this one's for you :)! Look for the Cup of Cocoa clear set on November 1st :).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Show Success!

Well, we are home from the Heirloom Stamp Show and back to the grind, but what a blast we had! DH was such a trooper. I am so thankful he agreed to come along and help and I know he is, too. He enjoyed seeing me "in my element" and I enjoyed watching all the ladies flirt with him ;)! Janette rocked with the Make 'n Takes and I can't thank her enough for coming down for the show. What a tremendous blessing she is! Love her lots :)!

Here are some pics taken before and during the event....

My good friend Mary Mahey came to help us set up on Friday. I wish we had gotten a picture of us together :(, but she did snap this shot of DH and I after we got the booth all set up.

What fun it was to meet Julie Smith aka hobbywoman and Denise Marzec aka peanutbee. Here they are with Janette and I. Such great ladies!

I also got to meet a long time customer and sweet lady, Jacquie Peifer aka JavaBluStamper. What a treat!!

Stacey Heiland, owner of Joys of Life Scrapbooking in Mechanicsburg, PA stopped by our booth, too. She started to carry our stamps a couple months ago and I have the great pleasure of doing make 'n takes at her store this Friday night for the Buggies & Buds Shop Hop. Can't wait!

Finally, I even have a card to share with you. I made it for this past Saturday's Sweet Stop sketch. I know, it's a bit late, but better late than never ;). This is one of our newest, and very popular I might add, digis, Cocoa's Pumpkin. What a FUN autumn image :).

Well, if you're still with me, thanks for sticking around.

Have a fabulous evening!

Christmas Bear

Tomorrow's the day.....we leave for the Heirloom Stamp Show....I have so much to do today, and I am praying last night's migraine doesn't come back so I can get it all done. Yes, migraine....YUCK....I guess all this stress finally caught up with me. I have only ever had two migraines in my life, last night included, so I count myself blessed, but boy their timing stinks!

On to funner things (I know funner is not a word, but it just sounded cute :D)....

I do have a card to share with you today! Isn't that wonderful? I am thinking maybe after this show I will have to take an entire weekend off just for stamping.....anyone want to join me? I honestly don't know how people do these shows regularly. I guess once you've done one, the rest are a piece of cake. If this show goes well, we may know just how that feels!

Ok, now my card.......

I just love this bear of Leah's. He's sooo adorable! We currently have three digis featuring him. This one is called Christmas Bear and the other two are Prayer Bear and Butterfly Bear. He just might be making his clear stamp debut in the new year, so be on the look out for that :).

I used the gorgeous new Christmas paper from Basic Grey called Jovial. The sketch was Split Coast Stampers #300 (congrats on a fabulous milestone!). I also added some faux stitching, wire candy canes, ribbon, gold half pearls and a blinged up ornament. If only a photo showed all the fun details.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Count your blessings today and don't forget to thank the Lord for them!

Saturday Sketch Time!

What a night! We lost power last night from about 6:30-ish till around 3am this morning. I can tell you, I was not too thrilled about it. I cannot believe how difficult it is to sleep in the dead, dark silence. Thanks to my hubby's habit, I am now used to the white noise of our fan and it was torture trying to sleep last night without it....plus you hear every little sound (and snort the the hubster makes).....it's going to be a tough day around here, me thinks ;)! I may need a nap or THREE ;)!!

Now that we are back to "normal" I am able to get my card posted for today's Sweet Stop Sketch, which is a super fun one.....so you better play along ;)!!

I had so much fun with this image and papers.....they sure put me in the Christmas mood. The image is a new digital stamp I illustrated called Festive Penguin and the papers are from a DCVW Holiday Stack----gorgeous papers, let me tell ya! The sentiment is from the A Cocoa Kind of Christmas clear set. I found some fun wire candy canes at Michaels last year so I added those for a finishing touch :).

Thanks for stopping by today. We are heading out to our church's Family Fall Festival later this afternoon. I just hope I can stay awake to enjoy it! Praying for no rain and good times for all.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Release Day!

We've released 8 fantastic new digital stamps today--yippey! I hope you will take a moment to check them out :)!

Here's a card I made with one of them, the lovely November Chrysanthemum by Leah Cornelius.

This image reminds me of the rich and beautiful colors of fall. LOVE IT!! :)

On another note, it's sure to be a busy day again today. Lots to do this morning before we head out to homeschool co-op after lunch. I am so thankful God led us to this group. The kids are really enjoying it as am I. What a blessing!

The preparations for the rubber stamp festival next weekend are coming along nicely, but I am starting to feel the crunch for time. I pray I can get everything accomplished in time and that my stamp order gets here by the 7th! I still have Make 'n Takes to finish up plus a few more finishing touches to add to the display. I am looking forward to meeting/seeing some of our local customers. It's sure to be a great weekend!

Have a Christ-centered day!