Monday, July 23, 2018

CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Hello my crafty friends, hope all is well in your neck of the world and you are enjoying lots of sunshine and not so humid temps. We are having lots of rain. Yes, we were dry and now we are flooding. Feast or famine-never fails. More rain and storms to come this week. In my area we just have minor flooding, but in the Hershey area they had some heavier flooding. Flooding, boat sinking, shootings, it is just all over the place around the world. My heart and prayers go out to all who are living with loss, whether from flooding, buildings falling or shootings. It's just so sad and makes my heart sad. 

On to my card. I'm slipping in sideways as the challenge over at CAS Christmas Card is closing tomorrow. But I wanted to play as I doubt I will get anything made in time for the Twofer Challenge as it closes tomorrow tomorrow too-which I did really want to play along with but it has just been to busy around here. This card I had started but didn't finish, so thought I'd get it finish to play along. So here is my little CAS Christmas card, I didn't put a sentiment on the outside as I didn't think it needed one. Supplies used will be down in the recipe section of this post. 



We've had some wild looking sky's around here, so thought I would share a photo of one storm that went all the way around us. No rain from this one, but other towns really got it hit with a good storm.



Bret has been after me about getting rid of a huge pine tree at our driveway. Dwayne was going have it taken down, but that didn't happen before he passed. Well now Bret has his new "professional" vehicle and he was getting mad every time sap dripped on it and on his hair. So got it taken down. The guy took it down by himself so I helped to drag limbs over to the chipper to save him some steps. Boy some of them were very heavy and some I couldn't hardly move! Hope I was a little help to him. I told him if I was more of a hindrance to just let me know and I'd get out of his way. He assured me I wasn't and I was doing well, so I kept helping. This is my huge pine, I will miss it, but won't miss all the pine cones in the driveway to clean up nor the sap. lol  You can't even see how tall it is in this picture, but just look at the guy cutting the limbs off and you get the jist of how big it is. He estimated about 40 ft and he said it was still growing. We've had it for about 30 years, Dwayne got it from a wedding he went to. Before "our" time so it was already planted here when I met him but was very tiny. 



Then I found a little monkey in my Mimosa tree. My granddaughter. lol She loves to try and climb this tree, but this is all the farther she can get.


Well that's it for me my friends. As always I thank you for stopping by and visiting with me a spell. We've had some pool issues but Bret got it all taken care of now, now we need the rain to stop so we can vacuum the pool. It is filled to the brim with all the rain water and cold! When it is that cool I have to have lots of hot and very bright sunshine to get in. lol So  hopefully it will warm back up and you can have a dip while you visit. Your comments always bring sunshine into my life and I thank you for that!


Crafty hugs,





Card Recipe:
Sunny Studio's Poinsettia stamp and die set
Gina Marie for the wreath
Martha Steward branch punch
My Creative Time Christmas stamp and die set for the bow
Stampin Up for the embossing folder
Altnew ink cubes for the ink to stamp the poinsettia
Some holograph paper in my snippets stash for the bow
SU Glitter enamel dot for my poinsettia center



23 comments:

Loll said...

Beautiful poinsettia card Brenda. The dry embossed weaving in the background is amazing ... so cool! And I love the grapevine wreath. Great design. Thanks for sharing with us at CAS Christmas!

The storm picture looks ominous! Glad it didn't cause you any issues. And what a HUGE pine tree. That must have been a big job to take that down ... expensive too. The shot of your grand-daughter in the tree is so sweet. She looks very happy with herself. :) Hope the rain lets up for you soon. We are in the middle of a heat wave here ... it will be 90+ tomorrow. Probably not considered a heat wave in your area, but very hot for here. Being close to the ocean, it's a humid hot for the first few days which makes it yucky! I'm staying inside with the air conditioning. :) xx

Anita in France said...

Your delicate poinsettia wreath is just so pretty against the textured background, Brenda ... the kraft adds a delicious warm and cosy feel to it! Thanks for sharing the photo's ... amazing cloud formations ... and what a job to do on that tree ... you'll have muscles on muscles by now with all that branch moving ... go you! Hugs, Anita :)

Marilyn said...

Pretty card! Love the embossed background! We have some very tall pine trees also. We used to have a lot more but Hurricane Katrina knocked down 29 of them. Thankfully none of them hit our house but it did total two of our cars.
Have a great day!
Marilyn❤️

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Your card is so lovely, beautiful embossing folder and poinsettia, I agree it doesn't need a sentiment.
That is one big tree to cut down, you will miss it, but funny how we get used to things so quickly isn't it? Well done you for helping, I'm always a labourer too LOL. Your granddaughter is making strides in tree climbing, I used to beat my youngest brother to the top of most trees. LOL.
Have a wonderful week Brenda :)
Hugs
Faith
x

Bonnie said...

That sweet wreath is a beautiful way to frame your gorgeous poinsettia, Brenda! Love that embossed background too! Thanks so much for sharing with us at CAS Christmas! That was some tree!

Cindy C. said...

Wonderful embossed background for this lovely CAS wreath!

Lisa said...

That is just the cutest little monkey I've ever seen!! She's so adorable climbing the tree!! And how sad you had to lose the pine tree :( I bet it smelled like Christmas cutting all those branches :)

Your card is stunning!! I love the basket-weave background!! It look so beautiful!! The wreath and poinsettia are gorgeous!! And wow!! That sky is amazing!! It looks like a painting!! I hope the rain stops soon and you are able to dry out. Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

Mac Mable said...

So enjoyed reading your post. That pine tree is huge and glad you helped out the guy that was cutting some of it down. Loved the photo of your grand daughter...attempting to climb, great memories. Fabulous photo of the storm clouds x. Yes I wonder where times go too and would love to enter more challenges and have loads of ideas and then before you know it the deadline is here... Your card is beautiful and love the dry embossing and the pretty colouring of that poinsettia. The wreath layout looks fabulous x. Hope the pool warms up for you LOL x.

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful christmas card, brenda! oh my goodness, the background embossing is fabulous - such lovely texture! so many delightful elements to keep my eyes going over it all bit by bit and then over it all again. :) looks like you have a rough patch of weather so i hope it improves from there. the tree is huge!! it must have taken a while. and cute pic of your grand daughter; looks like she loves a good challenge too.

jimlynn said...

Such a pretty, pretty, card! Love the embossing on there. Wow! Great photos too. That was a huge tree! Stay dry and safe.
Lynn

Carol L said...

I just love your card! That embossing folder is on my wish list and it looks amazing on every card I've ever seen with it, including this one! Well done on the CAS challenge! Love your wide angle storm photo, it's intimidating in a way. The tree had to have been monstrous, but better to take it down before it falls down and damages something! The previous owner of our home built it smack dab in the middle of thick forest and since we've been here over 25 years now, we had to remove nearly 30 trees - all of them at least 60' tall and above. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep at night for fear of one falling on the house! Now there are about 10 or so left to remove, but they're far enough away that I don't worry so much! That's a big job, and I'm sure the guy appreciated your help, regardless of how much you were able to do! Whew! Stay cool, stay safe and stay dry if you can! We had a downpour early this morning, then the sun came out and has been out mostly all day. We lucked out...........so far :)

Christine Alexander said...

Beautiful poinsettia on the wreath, such gorgeous colours and love that basket weave background it adds so much texture. Thanks for joining us at CAS Christmas.
your photos are so cool, that's a huge tree to be taken down.

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Love your card, Brenda, flower wreaths are always a winner... esp with poinsettias. I had two pine tree that big growing together and yes was glad to get rid of them and had to pay for removal.
Lord bless dear sis, loved your photos of skies and Granddaughter in tree very cute,
Hugs Shaz in Oz.x

Darnell said...

Your poinsettia card is so pretty, Brenda! Love that weave background! And I really loved all the photos you shared and your news about what's happening and the weather. Your monkey granddaughter is adorable! I hope the rains have stopped!!! Hugs, Auntie Darnell

Inkyfingers said...

That is such a sweet card Brenda and I love the embossed background. The delicate poinsettia is gorgeous and I love how you have mixed up all your supplies. I hope the rain has passed by now and you are back to some good weather. Your Granddaughter looks so sweet!
Hugs
Carol x

Dr Sonia S V said...

Not only is your card simply beautiful but your photography is awesome...so cute your granddaughter looks on the tree
Cheers
Dr Sonia

Anonymous said...

Seu Artigo está de parabéns! Obrigado pela informação limpa,
clara e objetiva!

MaryH said...

So pretty. Love the color of this poinsettia on the grapevine wreath. Love that woven embossed background too. It's lovely and definitely CAS. The picture of that stormy sky looked scary, and I'm glad this one passed you by. Glad, also that you got the big tree removed. It sure was pretty though. Enjoyed the picture of Miss T climbing the tree. TFS & Big hugs. Catch up soon, and hope the weather has improved in your area. MM

Veerle said...

Hi Brenda, This is such a lovely card. I love that embossed background.
Sorry for being so MIA lately but I have so much work with my workshops, shop, webshop and craft shows. It starts to run quit well but it's hard work. But work that I love doing so no complaining here LOL.
Sending you love 'n hugs, Veerle xx

LesleyG said...

What a fabulous wreath that is, looks perfect with the basket weave background. Wow takes some doing to fell a tree that size, bet it looks a bit different now but a job well done, and what a lovely pic of your granddaughter. Been so hot here, but rain and wind forecast, just when Alan's due to play golf! Xxx

scrappymo! said...

I would love to be having a dip in your pool!
it is in the 30's here and is smoking hot. We don't have air conditioning so we just use fans and try to keep cool in the basement!

That tree was huge! Your son will be glad to have his vehicle sap free now.

mycardattic said...

A Stunning card Brenda sweet friend! WOW, that was one big pine (or should that have been pain? LOL). I know what you mean about missing it though, we had a tree in our garden, nowhere near as big as yours though and, unfortunately, one year it just died and we had to have it removed. We miss it, because it used to attract small birds (we live in a fairly big city so it's a bit of a rarity to see these sweet little birds), now, we hardly ever see any at all, just very large seagulls, magpies and rooks, but it's not the same as seeing the smaller ones. Anyway, thank you so very much for stopping by today, I don't deserve everyone's loyalty, but am humbled and grateful to have it! Have a lovely day my friend! Hazel xx

Brenda in IN said...

This is a great card, Brenda. I love the basket weave and it's perfect for the rustic wreath. A soft, lovely poinsettia and I love the little greenery tucked in. That was some tree you took down! Your granddaughter looks so cute in the tree. Won't be long she will be able to climb way up there! Good to hear from you and stay safe. The weather has been horrific everywhere.