Happy Halloween....Trick or Treating...Not what it used to be!

LOL, Who remembers the days back when we were little that you anticipated Halloween long before it got here, and the day it finally came, you waited with impatient anticipation for the siren to blow so you could dart out of the house and move as quickly as you could so that you wouldn't miss a single house in what seemed like an unfair little bit of time to collect an exhorbitant amount of candy that no little body could consume in a single Halloween season?  I am quite sure that every Halloween that we went Trick or Treating, we still had candy left when Easter rolled around. 

Now, when I take my kids Trick or Treating, that same excitement that I remember as if it were yesterday is not there.  Yes, they want to go, yes, they want the candy, but that thrill and undying energy that we used to have has not been passed on to my own children.  We get down one block, and they are tired, cold and ready to go home.  This picture is the stash that one acquired on our short trip around our neighborhood.   What has happened to our children?  Do we give them too much?  Do they not appreciate the simple fun and joy of such an activity that comes only once a year?  I wonder that as I sit here and listen to them happily going over all of their new treats content as can be.  Could it be me that has a preconceived idea of how Trick or Treat is suppose to be?  Maybe it is them that has it right and not me.  They are not being selfish.  Happy with their little bit that they got and no complaints at all.  Sadly though, I miss the Halloweens of Days Gone By.  Simple homemade Halloween costumes, tic tacking, costume parties and mountains of candy. 

I will leave you now to revel in my memories of my own Trick or Treat days of long ago.  I hope you all enjoyed Trick or Treating with your kids this year!!

MMSC25 Snuggly Teddy Bear Card

Good Morning Everyone~  Welcome to my blog today.  I am still not quite up to par yet, so my posting may be at the bare minimum for information, but I want to share with you my MMSC25 sample for this week.

Unfortunately, I did not receive images from our sponsor Shawne Arnold who designs for Clear Dollar Stamps to use for this week's sketch, so I used a digi image from McMahon Five Designs for this card.  Isn't it just the cutest bear?  She is a very talented digi designer! Two of my scalloped background circles are made of foam which I thought added to the whimsy and fun of this image.   Lots of fun things on this card to see.  So sweet and feminine too with, of course the touch of lace, gems and sparkle which I am so well known for.

The inside of this card is sweet, but very simple with just a few flowers to continue with the feminine theme on the front of the card. 

Shawne~I will have to use your images for another sketch coming up.  I had really looked forward to using it.

I hope you enjoyed my sample card for the week and that you will be inspired in some way to create a fun card of your own this week. 

Congratulations to our MMM winner this week:


#33 Cabio

Additional Congratulations go out to the winners of the MMR for the week:


#14 Grace


#25 Vicki Basement Stamper


#44 Stephanie Hester


Thanks for dropping by for a peek, and please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of my take on the sketch.  For more MMSC updates and info, please visit the MMSC Blog.

Take care, and stay healthy. 

Our week with H1N1

Hi Everyone!  I just wanted to pop in here to thank everyone out there who sent prayers our way this week.  This is pretty much what our week consisted of in the pic above.  I forgot to add the Benedryl, because my youngest had a reaction to the Tamiflu and broke out in a rash. 

We are on the road to recovery.  However, my husband is just now coming down with this, so it isn't over for us yet.  It's a very worrisome thing when someone in your family or yourself gets this new flu with never having experienced it before or knowing  how serious it can be.  We were all very fortunate to have come through this without any complications.  My youngest though did acquire croup at the same time as the H1N1 which really had me scared, because he was not able to breathe easily and was in alot of pain.  After being on the Tamiflu for one day, he started to feel a little better.  Everyone is different, and I guess everyone's experience with this will be different.  If I can give any advice about this after having experienced it, the best thing I could say is that if you are worried about something being wrong or not being normal with this flu, don't wait to be seen.  The quicker you are treated, the better and quicker you will recover.  If there are no unusual flu symptoms, then it will just run it's course like any other flu would.  Stay alert to symptoms and keep sanitized. 

I wish all of my viewers out there good health and to make it through this flu season no worse for the wear.  I apologize for not being around to visit your blogs lately and hope to be able to catch up a bit in the next week or so once we are all back to normal health again. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and thank you again for all of your prayers and support at this time when my family needed them so much.  I am grateful to have come to meet so many wonderful people through the blog world and hope to continue to meet more new people all the time.

Take care and blessings to you all.

MMSC24 Cocoa Gurlee Girl with REAL Wood Paper!

Hi Everyone!  Well, after my week of troubles, I'll bet you expected to come here and at least hear something positive for a change.  Unfortunately, our bad streak continues.  My youngest was just confirmed as having H1N1, and I am very scared.  So in addition to my MMSC today, my plea is for anyone who would be so kind to remember us in your prayers.  My kids mean the absolute world to me, and I just don't know what I would ever do if anything would ever happen to any of them. 

THANK YOU and bless you for your kindness and friendship!

Now, I would like to show you my card for this week that is sporting another of the Gurlee Girl images from our monthly sponsor Chelsea.  She does awesome work with her images as well as with her cards and layouts.  Drop by and look at some of her work.  I also want to share with you that the gorgeous wood background on this card is from our very own Sue's store...McMahon Five Designs.  This wood paper is incredible and always results in an amazing and unique card.  Have a look at her beautiful assortment of woods to choose from.  They are so surprisingly affordable.

Congratulations to our MMM and MMR award winners this week:

Pam

Cabio

Karen Arthur

Karen Jiles

Brenda

Please visit the MMSC blog for other news for the week.

Thanks to all that stopped by on  First Blog hop, especially the ones that took the time to leave me a comment.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate your kind words of encouragement.  Those comments may not seem like such a big deal, but just a few words to let me know what you think always makes my day and gives me the motivation to keep pursuing this love that I have for crafting.  It sure helped to get me through this terrible week I was having too, so thank you for giving me a moment of your time.  You are all treasured blessings to me.  I hope that you all had some fun hopping around our blogs too and seeing all of the varied projects that we showcased just for you.

I thought I would share the picture of the envelope that I made for this one this week.  I like to make matching envelopes for my cards to make it sort of like a gift in itself. 

Here is the sketch for this week.  I hope that you will all have fun coming up with your own version of the sketch. 

Thanks for giving me some of your time today, and I always appreciate your thoughts and comments.  Have a wonderful day!

Prowling At the 1st Midnight Madness Blog Hop

Welcome to Prowling at the 1st Midnight Madness Blog Hop. Here at Midnight Madness we are celebrating “YOU” our players with a fun and exciting blog hop. We have TWENTY FIVE exciting prizes to give away. As a matter of fact, here is the list of how we are giving away these prizes:

• One Grand prize random drawing valued at $100
• 350th BRAND NEW Sketch Player SPECIAL Prize valued at $50
• 11 “Cards from the Crypt” (picked by our DT members from MMSC archives)
• 12 random Package winners drawn

You have until Tuesday, October 20, 2009 12 p.m. Midnight EST to leave your name in Mr. Linky at Priscilla’s Midnight Madness Blog to be eligible for the prizes. Prize winners will be notified at the end of the week.

If you would like to be entered in Prowling at the 1st Midnight Madness Blog Hop prizes and you DO NOT have a blog, you still can participate. You will have to follow the directions below……..

1.　Leave a comment on the Midnight Madness Blog Hop comment section with your email address, first name and last name initial.

 2. Link up to Mr. Linky with first name and last name initial and in the URL space enter this address http://priscillastyles.blogspot.com/

In order to have a chance at winning any of the prizes, you must gather a secret phrase along the Blog Hop. Each Design Team Member will have a particular word or words listed on their blog and as long as you visit them in order, you will have the secret phrase at the end. If you are picked as a Prize winner you will be contacted by email and you must email back the secret phrase WITH IN 48 HOURS to claim your prize. If by any chance the 350th BRAND NEW player or any of the “Cards from the Crypt” winners are not claimed, then those prizes will be added to the random winners drawn. To start off, you must begin at Pricilla’s Midnight Madness Blog! If you have not started there, I suggest you go back and begin again . . . you don’t want to miss out on the Prizes! If you have arrived from Charlotte's Blog then you are on the correct course. 　If you want a chance to win you will have to follow the instruction listed above. Thank you and have fun on the Hop.

· Meet the Midnight Madness Design Team:

We thought it would be fun to feature in this section of our blog hop something to help you get to know the design team members and for us to get to know you. We have all chosen some questions with answers we wanted to share with you, our valued challenge players, about ourselves. You are welcome to leave a comment here at my blog and tell us something about you. So here are some interesting things about me!


1. What was your reason to get into cardmaking/paper crafting?  I had decided to finally quit my job after 16 years and stay home with my kids.  I wanted to find something that I could use as an outlet and still be productive.  My neighbor introduced me to rubber stamping (which I was certain was not going to be my thing)...Boy, was I wrong! I was hooked on this almost immediately and chose to start selling my cards on ebay to supplement our income with my having quit my job.  As they say, the rest is history ; )

2. Where do you get most of your inspiration from?  I don't quite know how to answer this one.  I know that I choose images that appeal to me and I usually will work with whatever I have to work well with my image.  Ideas do inspire me, especially if it is something that I haven't tried before and looks interesting.  I don't often relate my creations to anything in particular or even really get inspired by something that I see not card related.  My drawings are often inspired by life things, but not so much my cards.  For the most part, my cards come to life very spontaneously almost every single time that I make one.  I create anything that I make as I go, and step by step it falls into place. 

3. Is there a specific time of day when your best creations are made and is there a particular food/drink item you just have to have with you?  I frequently work into the wee hours of the night.  I do work best when I am alone.  I don't eat or drink while I am working, and I really hate stopping once I start..even for a break.  This can really take it's toll at times, because I am not a quick crafter.  I can take hours upon hours and even days to create just one card.  If I'm motivated, I'm motivated, and if I'm not, I'm not!  That's pretty much all there is to it.  You will see that some of my cards are fantastic while others are ...wellll, ok.  There's the difference. 

4. What tool could you not live without?  There are just WAY too many to mention, but if I have to choose just one, I would have to say that I could not live without my stickles!!  You will be hard pressed to find a card from me that does not have stickles on it somewhere.  Just seems naked without it in my opinion.  Have to sneak in here though that gems take a close second in this category ; )

5. If your house was on fire and you could run in and save ONE CRAFT ITEM, what would that be?  I would have to choose my Cricut for this one mostly because I am such a penny pincher, and that would be the single most expensive craft item that I have right now.  However, in reality, if we had a fire, the only thing I would really care about saving is my family...anything else could be replaced. 

6. What is your favorite crafting technique?  I Love to make shaker cards!! 

7. What would you love to find at a yard sale?  Rubber stamps or really any good craft supplies would be a huge find for me.  Have never found that anywhere near me though. 

8. What makes you laugh the hardest?  My husband!!  But, yes, he can also make me cry the hardest. 

· Cards from the Crypt

For something a little fun to honor our Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge Players we thought we would go back into the Crypt of archived challenges and pick some of our favorites to feature here. Our winners will need to do the blog hop and collect a word from each of the blogs to collect the winning phrase and place their name in Mr. Linky at Priscilla’s Midnight Madness Blog! We will email you when we verify that you have entered your name in Mr. Linky, you will need to email back the phrase in order to qualify for your prize. Even if your card hasn't been chosen from the Crypt you are still eligible for the Grand Prize and Random Drawings.

My Crypt Pick card for MMSC19 is Loz. Congratulations, Loz. Your card was wonderful and we appreciate your support in joining us each week at the MMSC.

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I wanted to do something a little bit different for my blog hop project, so I have tried something that I have NEVER done before!!!  Flower arranging!!!  I have to tell you.....I was so nervous to do this.  I was thinking it would turn out soooo bad.  I had originally wanted to do a swag, but in our almost craftless little town, there were no supplies to make a swag with, and I did not have the time to order them online and be done in time for the hop, so I opted for the broom....which is perfect for Fall anyway, right?  So, I get all this stuff home...lol probably around $50 plus just in flowers, because I had no clue what to use or what would look nice...Didn't even know where to begin, but I just started putting things together, and I have to say...I am really loving the way that it turned out.  I was soooo surprised at how quick it was to make.  It is VERY full, so you can't really almost even tell that it is a broom, but that is the way I like it.  It is now hanging proudly in my house.  I can't say that I would do another broom like this again, because that is something that you can't just use anywhere or all the time, but I am thinking that I would LOVE to try out the swags and wreaths.  It is just so much fun to do. 

My 2nd item is a pumpkin made out of dryer hose that is spray painted, hot glued and filled with flowers to use as a centerpiece.  This is so easy to do too.  I had so many flowers leftover from my broom that this was a breeze to fill up.  A fun little thing that you can do with this if you want to make it a simpler pumpkin is to buy some of the cinnamon scented pine cones that they have out right now and put those inside of the dryer hose before you glue it together, and then put little pinholes in the top and bottom of the pumpkin where it is not visible (do this after spraypainting).  Then you can add cinnamon sticks as the pumpkin stem, a few leaves, and you will have an amazingly scented centerpiece to display on your table.  There you have it....my Fall blog hop projects.  I hope you enjoyed viewing them and that you might try something new to challenge yourself with.  You might find out how much fun you are missing out on. 

I would be thrilled to hear what you think of my projects and so appreciate your stopping by to play in our blog hop today.

Thank you for playing in our weekly challenges and for all your support each week. We love showing off our creations to you and visiting your blogs each week to see what you have created We hope you are enjoying this special Blog Hop and that you are finding something new along the way. Thanks for joining us today!

　

Cocoa Gurlee Girl by the Cozy Fireplace

Good Morning everyone!  I want to share with you a card that I made with Chelsea's Gurlee Girl image.  I had wanted to do this with my MMSC card, but to my dismay, the images did not fit into the sketch, so I just had to create this idea on a card somehow.  I just love the warm, cozy look of the fireplace and the Gurlee enjoying her hot cocoa with fluffy marshmallow cream on a comfy carpet.

We are having a rainy day here today, so the lighting wasn't so cooperative for picture taking, but I thought I would share nonetheless.  I wanted to do a couple of little touches that I didn't get to do on the card, because our bees are still giving us some trouble, and I am a little nervous rooting through my supplies to find things, but I am still really pleased with how this turned out. I would not have been happy until I created this card that has been brewing in my mind for some time now. 

I will be posting another card with this image on it next week for the challenge, and you will see how different that the settings are between the two.  It gives a wonderful idea of how differently that one image can be used for many different styles.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit today.  I appreciate if you could leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  I could use the support to get me through my bad week.  I hope that you are all enjoying a good week, and I will see you soon for the MMSC Blog Hop. 

Challenge for this card:
Stamp Something:  Brown and something
Whimsy Stamps: Get Punchy
Secret Crafter: Autumn colors

MMSC23 Gurlee Girl Pretty Ribbons Christmas Card

Good Morning everyone!  After another terrible week with my bees, I would like to try to put that behind me and share my card with you for MMSC23.  I flipped the sketch this week to suit my card.  This image is another Gurlee Girl image that was so generously provided to us by our lovely sponsor this month Chelsea who creates these irresistable little girls.  If you can't resist these either, drop by her site and you can get some for yourself to create with.  I want to thank our weekly sponsor this week Innovative Stamp Creations.  They are offering a $50 voucher worth of sheets (your choice) to our lucky winner this week. 

The poinsettia that I used for this card is a digi image from McMahon5 Designs .  I really love that image.  I am sure that I am going to have to use that again.  So pretty.  Thank you Sue!!

I am so unpredictable with how I decorate the insides of my cards.  I can do very simple to very extravagant.  In this case, I liked this dp so much that I really did not want to take away from it's beauty by covering it up with alot of other decor, so I added a touch of pretty ribbon and a single sparkly snowflake to give it what I thought was the perfect touch.  Not too much, not too little : )

This picture shows the box envelope that I made to go along with this card.  It is lined with pretty dp covered in holiday packages.  A perfect finish to complete this project. 

Here is our sketch for this week.  I hope that you will be inspired in some way by my sample card to create a wonderful piece of your own to share.  I look forward to visiting you this week to see what you come up with.  Stop by the MMSC blog to get all the newest updates and news.  There are so many fun and exciting things going on.  You don't want to miss a thing.

Congrats to our MMM Gold Star Award winner this week:  Karen Lynn...Enjoy your award!  Another congrats to the Midnight Madness Remarkables:  Liz Williams, Sue Drees, and Craftypagan.  All wonderful cards and well deserved recognition!

Don't forget about our FABULOUS BLOG HOP coming up beginning October 16th and ending October 20th.  There are tons of prizes and just as much fun.  Lots of projects to showcase for inspiration to your Fall/Halloween crafting.  Don't miss it.  We can't wait to have you drop by!

Have a wonderful week, and I appreciate your thoughts and comments as always.  They encourage me to persevere with my crafting. 

Challenge entered for this card:

Caardvarks: Using ribbon in a wonderful way

The Swarm!

10-12-2009  WHO WANTS TO SEE MORE?  THIS ONE WAS TAKEN TODAY.  NASTY, ISN'T IT?  EXTERMINATOR CAME OUT AND SPRAYED, BUT NEVER DID FIND THE NEST.  WE NEED THE NEST TO BE SURE TO KILL THEM ALL.  A WAITING GAME AGAIN!!  DID FIND OUT THAT THESE ARE EASTERN YELLOW JACKETS. 

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These horrible creatures have been terrorizing my family (INSIDE MY HOUSE!!!) for weeks now.   We finally had an exterminator come out yesterday for an inspection just to tell me that they cannot tell me where they are coming inside from OR if there may be a nest inside the house!  Comforting, isn't it?  So, they tell me that on Monday someone will call me to schedule a time to come out and spray.  Call me to schedule!!!???  PLEASE!!  Is this not more of an emergency than that?  I guess in the meantime they just wish me luck and tell me to say a prayer.  They are everywhere from crawling on the floor (we have dark carpeting, so hard to see) to flying and EVEN chasing me as I chase them to try to kill them.  It is terrible.  Then I ask how long it will take after they spray for them to disappear.  LOL, they do not give me an answer, just to say not right away, but not too long.  My Dad is severly allergic to bees.  He is elderly and lives in the apartment on top of our house.  What would I do if he got stung? 

So, instead of being able to enjoy some time crafting and creating to post on my blog, I have to post a picture of what is preventing me from doing so!  Have any of you ever had problems with such a thing, and if you have, what worked for you to get rid of these pests? 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, as I hope to enjoy mine next weekend if this gets fixed!

Don't forget to pray for me!  I guess it's all I have right now.

Christmas Carolers Spreading Joy CLP5

A quick post today to share a card that I made for Chelsea's sketch challenge.  She is the sweetest, most talented lady around.  Go check out her blog and give her challenge a try.  It's alot of fun.  I would like to enter this into the Winter Wonderland challenge too that I have only recently discovered, but it is equally fun to participate it.  Their theme this week is "sleigh bells ring".  I used it for inspiration even though my card does not have a sleigh on it...bells remind me of music, and my card is carolers singing.   This is a quick but fun card, and I really am getting a nice head start on my Christmas cards.  I hope you enjoy the midweek post, and I always welcome your comments on my cards.  Thank you for stopping by for a visit, and I will see you soon. 

Have a great evening!!

Boo! Can this cute little Good Witch scare you? MMSC22

Well, as hard as it is to believe, 3/4 of this year has passed us by already, and that means that Halloween is just weeks away now.  How cute is this little girl trying to scare someone in her sweet little witch costume?  I just adore these Gurlee Girl images that our sponsor Chelsea has given us the opportunity to work with this month.  I have really had fun creating some cute cards with them.  Thanks for a great month, Chelsea!  Would also like to recognize and thank our weekly sponsor:  Simon Says Stamp They have been very generous to us and are so wonderful to work with. 

Maybe not so fitting with the front of the card, but couldn't resist paper piecing some pumpkins and a crow and using my new Martha Stewart fence punch for the inside of my card.  I made an envelope to match this as well, but I always seem to forget to photograph it for my post. 

I hope you have enjoyed my card this week as much as I have enjoyed making it to share with you.  I always appreciate you thoughts and comments, so please let me know that you stopped by for a look.

Have a great day, and will be looking for your entry to the MMSC this week!

Some additional news from the MM site:


MIDNIGHT MADNESS MASTERPIECE AWARD


Each week we are awarding a special Badge Award to one person for their outstanding sketch submission. If you would like to be considered for this award, please make sure your card link is posted to Mr. Linky by Sunday of each week. This is our way of let you know how wonderfully talented you are and how much we appreciate you sharing your craft with us. This week we are proud to say the“MIDNIGHT MADNESS MASTERPIECE” Gold Star Award goes to.....

#35. emma lockley
Congratulations and Enjoy your award!
The "NEW" MM REMARKABLES AWARD!!


The Midnight Madness Team has created a very special award called The “Midnight Madness Remarkables” Award !! We would like to acknowledge those entries that are just exceptionally Remarkable!! During our voting each week, due to the caliber of the cards entered in our challenges, we end up with so many ties and close votes, so to give recognition to so many remarkable entries, we would like to
thank you all for playing and congratulate this week's “Midnight Madness Remarkables” award winners…..


18. Aud Kirsten

46. Melody R

60. Mary Lou


For an extra entry to win the $25 voucher that Simon Says Stamp is offering this week,  here is what you have to do....For our MMSC22 "PLAYERS" this week, all you have to do is add the "BLOG HOP LOGO" (seen above and on the top of my side bar) to your side bar. When you add your project to Mr Linky this week enter two times….ONE with a direct link to your card and the OTHER ONE to either your main blog address or a Special Post about our upcoming Blog Hop. BUT in order to qualify with the second entry on Mr. Linky, the logo HAS to be on the SIDE BAR with a link back to the MM blog. Reminder....(a "direct" link normally starts with http and ends with html).  We are hoping you will help us spread the word about our blog hop and in return you will get an extra entry for this weeks Bonus prize.... Sweeeeet Deal!!!!


The count down Is on!!! Just a couple more weeks till the Prowling at the 1st Midnight Madness Blog Hop!! We hope you are getting excited about our blog hop. Exciting times are ahead for all of us. As a special way to thank our players and welcome new ones, we will be hosting our very 1st Halloween/Fall themed Midnight Madness Blog Hop.....Beginning October 16th at 8 a.m. EST and ending October 20th at 12 a.m. Midnight. AND OH WILL THERE BE PRIZES....... 25 prizes to be exact.
One Grand Prize random drawing
350th Brand New Sketch Player SPECIAL Prize
13 "Cards from the Crypt" (picked by our very own DT members from the MMSC archives
10 random Package winners

 The Midnight Madness DT has been working on making this blog hop extra special for everyone. We are hoping you will join us for all the fun, exciting projects with tons of inspiration and prizes. So mark your calendar and join us for our first ever blog hop.

Challenges for this card:
Gingersnap: Bling
Fun with Shapes: punch or cut shapes
Belli: Bling
Charisma: Decoupage
Spoonful of Sugar: Halloween
Pile it on:  3D

To digi or not to digi, that is the question??? Kitten Sketch

Hi everyone!  I had a bit of a stressful day yesterday, so to calm my nerves some, I sat down and doodled a picture of a little kitten that was inspired by a beautiful picture of a kitten that was shared with me recently by a friend of mine.  I don't typically sit down and just draw, but do you ever need to do something just to relieve some stress energy?  Well, that is what it I did.  Once I began to scribble my sketch, I noticed that my focus on my image calmed my mind and began to bring life to this sweet little kitten. 

Now, my question to you is this....Should I refine this image to create into a digital image that could be made available to anyone who wanted to use it?  Is this something that any of you would enjoy stamping and coloring to use on a card?  I have never put any of my hand-drawn images into digital form before, so if I did do it, it would be a first for me.  I am asking you this to see if it would be worth the time and effort for me to pursue something like this. 

So, I am hoping today will be a more peaceful day for me and that all will run smoothly, but rest assured, if I do have another stressful day, you all may benefit from my method of relaxing to relieve some of my stress ; )

Have a very beautfiul day everyone, and thanks for dropping by for a visit.  I graciously appreciate your thoughts and comments on my post.