Winter Blues! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

I've got hosting duties and I'm wondering if anyone's got the "Winter Blues". Well.....just the blues technically as the challenge is about the colour blue....winter or otherwise!

Though speaking of winter.....it's been blustery 'round here as of late with a flurry (Ha, see what I did there?) of cancellations happening since Monday afternoon including schools being closed yesterday.  I did make it into work yesterday....though my van did not enjoy being used as a snowplow for a good portion of the trip.  And it's been darn cold too, with the windchill it's -33ºC this morning.  I really don't want to leave the house!

*if someone happens to have a good segue, please insert it here*

I need to tell you a story, my friends, mostly because it's a pretty good story and I want it immortalized somewhere.  So here goes.....

Last Friday morning, my Middlest's alarm went off, and he quickly shut it off and stumbled out of his room towards the shower.  As he staggered down the stairs, he was struck by how exhausted he was....he did have a hockey practice Thursday night and didn't get home until after 10, and then studied for his English exam until 11:00, but this was more than just that.  He was also worried about his test.  If he was this tired, how could he possibly do well on the exam?  Why was he so spent?

He got his showering done and then decided to lay down in the tub and close his eyes, for just a minute, and promptly fell asleep. After some time had passed he bolted awake, mad that he'd fallen asleep for so long, and even madder that no one came to check on what was taking him so long....he figured he was going to miss his bus for sure.  (He gets picked up at 7:30am.)  He dashed out of the bathroom to the kitchen to check the time.....

.....and found out it was 12:33am.  See, his alarm clock had gotten unplugged, and of course when that happens the alarm resets to midnight.  He didn't know that, so he just turned on his alarm, same as he does every night.  Given that he was so tired when he woke up, seeing as he'd had only an hour's sleep after all, his eyes were not open, and he never noticed what time it actually was.  So, he ended up having a shower at midnight, six and a half hours too early.

I don't think I've ever before alternated between lmao and having sympathy for someone like I did when he was telling me this story.  As it was he went on to play a most excellent hockey game that night so I've threatened to drag him out of bed and throw him into the shower every time he has a game.  Maybe I'll wait until I see his English mark.  If it's an A I'm definitely going to do it.

Speaking of being up at midnight....if you're up that late (and it's not accidentally), then it's gotta be because....

it's party time!  Gotta love this partying pup.  It's from Bugaboo Stamps.  And, as you can see, it's got lots of blue.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Cardz 4 Guyz:  something that begins with T - twine, "time"
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown:  anything goes
Pile It On:  land animals
Aloha Friday:  birthday
Simon Says:  anything goes
Aud Sentiments:  anything goes + sentiment
Shopping Our Stash:  ode to Jessi - I was inspired by the theme and stamp company from this card.
Sweet Sketch Wednesday:  sketch (I did take some liberties.  (-: )

Stick It! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Stick It!"....now, don't worry, she's not being rude, she just wants to see projects using washi tape. So, I think her title is very snicker worthy!

This is what I did.....

I recently was oh so lucky and won a $50 gift certificate to The Cats Pajamas, which was awesome. And, when I received the stamps, they were awesome. So it was most definitely awesome squared. This stamp is from the This Could Be Vodka set. I probably should have set a better DT example with the washi tape, seeing as it's just that yellow strip.....but that's sometimes how it goes. This just means you guys can easily one-up me when you enter the challenge!

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Crazy For CAS:  animal
Pile It On:  land and/or water animal
Simon Says:  have a heart

Time Will Tell @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Kate's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying "Time Will Tell" which means she wants to see something that tell the passage of time....so think a clock or watch or calendar etc. How fun!

This is what I did.....

I wasn't quite ready to put away the Christmas supplies so I made up this card using a sweet freebie graphic.  I must say, I quite like the colours of this.  And I don't feel like that's bragging at all seeing as all I did was match patterned paper to the colours of the image.  Not too hard to do when you have a hoard of patterned paper pads like mine!

*thinking of a clever way to segue into my next train of thought......hmmmmm......"speaking of calendars" - nope; "speaking of bragging" - doesn't exactly apply; writing a long, run-on sentence describing my thought process and how I don't really have a way to smoothly transition into talking about New Year's Resolutions - yeah, let's go with that*

So, Dear Readers, did you make a New Year's Resolution this year?  I know some people think they're caca, but I don't.  Nothing wrong with doing something to improve yourself.  I usually keep them too.  Of course, I don't go overboard and make great, grand proclamations.  My last year's resolution was to stop dressing like a homeless ostrich at my one job.....I believe I was subconsciously doing it as an FU to the owner.....but I don't think he really cared.  It's not like I went out and bought all new clothes or anything, I just went for a slightly more polished, professional look rather than a hey-I-sniffed-the-pits-when-I-pulled-this-out-of-the-dirty-laundry-basket-what-more-do-you-want vibe.

This year I upped the ante a little and have decided to drastically decrease my Diet Coke consumption.  Now, if you knew me well, this would be your reaction....

.....as for years and years and years I have been rampant consumer of Diet Coke.....and yes, I was always fully aware of the fact that it is not good for you.  Thing is, I drink A LOT, and water becomes very boring, very fast (and yes, I had tried the whole squeeze in some lemon, buy an infuser bottle and fill it was fresh fruits etc. thing).  I'm not even going to tell you how many DCs I was drinking a day coz it's head-hanging embarrassing, it is.  But, I will tell you how many I'm drinking a day now.  That would be one, and on the rare occasion, two.  However the most surprising thing about that is that I'm not really missing them because I have discovered.....

DAVIDs TEA.

I've always liked tea well enough, and would drink it on occasion, but, my friends, Davids Tea is a game-changer.  They have over 150 different varieties of tea.  There's everything from Candy Cane Crush (a personal favourite) to Just Beet It (a personal favourite).  And the quality is excellent....there's actual frackin' pieces of candy cane, in a shape that looks kinda like a snowflake, in the Candy Cane Crush tea.  I bought a couple of sampler packs during the Boxing Day sale and, because I'm a geek with a crappy memory, I've made an Excel spreadsheet so I can rate the teas I've tried so I will remember my faves when it comes time to make another purchase.  And not just rated by taste, I've become a tea sommelier....I've listed comments like "excellent - tea-like with a chocolatey finish" (Hot Chocolate) and "very good - full-bodied, and its surprising pink colour is an extra delight for the senses (Forever Nuts).

So, to my Canadian peeps, if you like tea at all, even just a little bit, treat yourself to a cuppa next time you're at the mall.  For regular tea drinkers I'd recommend trying....hmmmm......Cardamom French Toast.  If you're not that into tea you could try something like Chocolate Macaroon or go for Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait as an iced tea.  Much more healthier than that pop/Starbucks/Orange Julius you were thinking about getting, right? 

Anyhoo, I would love to hear if you made any resolutions for 2019, and how you're doing at keeping it.  And, if you flamed out, hey, no judgment here.  I once made a resolution that I was going to cut down on junk food and then became the equivalent of a human vacuum and hoovered up a half a bag of chips every night for two weeks.  *sigh* I miss my 20s.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas
Crafty Sentiments:  winter
Crafty Cardmakers:  winter
Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  anything Christmas
ABC Christmas:  A is for Anything Christmas

Mahalo Nui Loa! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Mahalo Nui Loa!" which is Hawaiian for "Grand Thanksgiving" according to Google Translate. I'm thinking it's more like "thank you" when you don't ask The Google to do the translation for you but we all'll just have to pop on over to Brenda's blog to see for sure. And, while we're there, we can all be jealous of her because she gets to live in Hawaii and she probably didn't have to park her van in the shop on Monday night so she could avoid having to scrape off layers on freezing rain on Tuesday morning.

So, it's "thank you" projects this week! And this is what I did....

I used a digi from Digistamp Boutique which is no longer in business. I do believe that it's supposed to be a robin but I went for more of a winter bird seeing as it's all dressed up for winter. Not that you don't see robins in winter weather at times.....there's loads of times 'round here when winter decides to show up for a day or two (or more) in April and/or May. You should see the robins then....all hopping around looking all confused, poor things. But that's pretty much what we're all doing when snow comes in the spring though.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Sweet Stampin':  spots & dots
Crafty Gals Corner:  snow much fun
The Male Room:  anything goes
Craft Rocket:  winter
As You Like It:  anything goes
Alphabet Challenge:  U is for Use Some Stitching
Make My Monday:  use words or sentiment
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
Shopping Our Stash:  winter blues + old stash - patterned papers are a few years old
Dream Valley:  anything goes

Hey, Newbie! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge so I'm going with "Hey, Newbie!" which means I want to see something new. It can be new as a theme or new stash or new technique....as long as it's new (or new to you) it's all good.

This is what I did....

....as you can see I made a new baby card. Doesn't get much newer than that for a theme, right?

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

My Time to Craft:  something new
Sweet Stampin:  new
As You Like It:  anything goes
Always Fun:  something new
Ike's World:  A for animals
Simon Says:  something new

Anything Goes! @ Tiddly Inks

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone!  I'm wishing you all all the best for a fan-darn-tastic 2019.

This month at

we've got the easiest challenge there is...."Anything Goes!". So all you need is any Tiddly Inks stamp and you're in!

This is what I did.....

I used Sk8tr, and it's one of my faves.  I also used some ancient scraps.....which is why the patterned paper is in that strange shape.  About....I'd say.....eight years ago or so, Authenique came out with four or five different loose per-sheet patterned paper lines.  And this was back when I hadn't yet started buying 6x6 paper pads and was still using 12x12 scrapbook paper to make cards because, at the time, I was finding that there were a lot of designs in the 6x6 pads that I didn't like, so I didn't want to buy the whole pad.  But when these came out and I could pick and choose which papers I wanted.....well.....I thought that was the best thing ever and snatched up a bunch of them.  I only have snips and scraps left now which is why I used a piece that originally had a star shape cut out of it.  But I thought it looked cool enough, so there you go.

Used fun foam for the die cut letters, gotta love fun foam for that.  To tell the truth, the sentiment almost said "bube" because my brain did not think to flip the cut side down when I picked the letters out, just went with the one that looked like the letter d when sitting on the magnetic storage sheet.  And actually, to tell the truth even truthier, the sentiment should read "pupe" because I had actually  used the p instead of the d, which I then thought was the b but it turns out the d is actually cursive which I didn't realize because it looks like a cursive f (or a cursive b if you stretch your imagination a bit) when it's cut side up on the storage magnet.  Make sense?  Doesn't really matter anyway because, as you can see, I just gave the die cut p's a little flip and it all worked out.

Why not grab a Tiddly Inks image, and join us for the challenge?  And be sure to  check out the fabulousness the DT has come up with.

Also for:

As You Like It:  anything goes
Simon Says:  anything goes
Inkspirational:  CASE - I case'd this card from Larissa....