Happy Friday, blog friends!!  We have made it to the weekend....yay!!  Do you have any fun plans?  We are dog sitting for the neighbors, so I will be hanging out at home mostly.  Hopefully will get a lot of crafty time in!!

Before I get to my card, I wanted to share that I have a lot of items available on my For Sale tab.  Check it out & see if there is anything you just can't live without for a really great price!! :)

I've got a really gold & elaborate Christmas card to share with you this evening.  But hey, if you can't get elaborate about the birth of Christ...then what CAN you get elaborate about?! :)  I think it turned out really pretty.  Check it out!
 I layered & layered until my heart's content, & used up some older product in my stash as well!  The background paper is from the Dear Lizzy "Lucky Charm" 6x6 paper pad, & it says "Love you to the stars and back" over & over again.  It just seemed fitting for the theme & sentiment of this card. :)

I created this for pretty much every Verve related challenge out there right now...there are lots of fun ones!!  I used the Viva la Verve November sketch #2 as the starting off point for my design.  I also created it for the "Naturally Navy" Verve November 2014 Inspiration challenge, and the "Vellum Visions" November Diva dare.  And last but not least, I couldn't resist adding some stars for this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, "We're Seeing Stars".


**The flowers are not linked, because I do not know their names.  They are Prima Marketing brand, but are well over a year old.  Sorry about that!  If you want to recreate this card & don't have the same flowers....you can easily substitute them!**

I hope that you've enjoyed my card tonight!  As always, if you have any questions or anything....leave it in the comments & I will reply back. :)  I recently made some changes to how I use Facebook, and have pared my friends list down to just family & very close friends.  Would you like to keep up with me on Facebook?  All you have to do is like my Lea Lawson Creates facebook page.  I add blog links & photos to it...and will be doing a TON more with it in 2015.  Be sure to join me before all the fun gets going!!  You can also add yourself as a follower to my blog in the right sidebar as another way to keep up with my posts.

Have a wonderful start of your weekend!

Until later,
~L.

Happy Monday, blog friends!!  How was your weekend?  We had an awesome one!  We took a quick trip over to Minneapolis.  We had dinner with friends on Saturday night, went to our hotel's waterpark on Sunday afternoon & then went to a Garth Brooks concert on Sunday night.  The concert was A. MA. ZING.  One of the best concerts I've ever been to...right up there with the U2 360 tour.  Then we decided to pack up really quickly & checkout of our hotel when we got back from the concert in order to avoid the major storm that was supposed to hit Minneapolis early in the morning.  I think we made a wise choice...we only went through a small patch of kind-of crappy weather.  We didn't get home until 3:30 this morning though...we were a bit silly & loopy by the end of our drive.  Lol!

Before I get to my card for today, I wanted to let you know that I have updated my For Sale tab with a ton of stamp sets & dies for really great prices.  My purge is your gain....click the link or the tab above to see if there is anything you must have!!

I've got a Christmas card to share with you today! I've definitely got more Thanksgiving themed cards in mind before the month ends, but I was just in a Christmas mode for this one!  I've used some My Mind's Eye "Sleigh Bells" paper with Verve & WPlus9 stamps.  Check it out!
I've layered lots of paper blocks, a doily & some lovely stamping layers to the card front to create this card.  I just love it...how about you?   I've used the Viva la Verve November week 1 sketch as the start of my card design.  And I also used the colors from The Paper Players challenge #221, which are cherry, vanilla & moss...I've also added a neutral kraft as the card base. 





Would you like to keep up with me on Facebook?  Please like my Lea Lawson Creates facebook page!!  I would also love if you'd add yourself as a follower of my blog in the right sidebar!!  Have an awesome rest of your Monday!  Stay warm!

Until later,
~L.

Happy Monday, blog friends!  I hope that you are having a great start to your week. Lately I've had renewal on my mind a lot.  Which is a little odd, because that is normally more of a spring thing.  But with the change of the season, as nature around us begins its journey to hibernation....I realize that I'm kind-of on the same path.  Another long, cold winter is ahead of me, and I will be the first to admit it is not my favorite season.  But I really need it to not get the best of me.  So each day this week I am going to share how I am renewing the different areas of my life.

Today I am going to talk a little about the health side.  Here are some things that I am doing to get myself healthier & feel better about myself.

• I'm trying to drink my weight in ounces of water per day....it doesn't always happen, but I'm at least striving for it.  :)  And, once I lose about 10-15 pounds...it will be so much easier.  Lol!  
•  I started doing Oula (it's a dance fitness that I LOVE) online again, and my plan is to do it every Monday-Friday, then take off the weekends to rest & relax with my hubby.  But, I'm not going to beat myself up if some weeks I only get in 3-4 workouts...that is where I fail.  I have to remain positive with myself, & not get down if I miss a mark or slip up.  
• We have made a resolution to start cooking & eating more at home again.  This summer was full of eating out, quick meals, etc...& I kind-of hate that.  Josh is an excellent cook, and I'm not too bad myself.  We mostly eat really fresh & unprocessed food when we cook for ourselves, and that is what we are getting back to.  
• This time of year is when I like to start baking again, & I'm okay with that.  I am going to look for healthier recipes for some of my faves, but when I really want pumpkin cake with honey cream cheese frosting....I'm making it!  I'm just going to make sure there are plenty of people to share it with so I don't eat the whole thing myself.

Thanks for hanging with me as I post some personal stuff!  If you have any thoughts on my health renewal or you want to be a renewal buddy with me...feel free to share them with me in the comments!  Now...I'm assuming you might like to see a card?  Well, I've got a really feminine  & pretty one to share with you today!!
I made this for my cousin who just lost her dad this past weekend.  We have been really close our whole lives, so I wanted to send her something that is really personal & beautiful...something that would at least try to portray how much I am feeling for her right now.  I hope that it does that...I hope that it shows a little bit of my heart.  When we were kids, she lived in Montana & I lived in Arizona.  We wrote letters to each other quite often, and in those letters we talked about any & everything.  So, I think I'll include a letter with this card as well.  It just seems fitting.

I pulled out the "Pretty Things" collection from the My Mind's Eye Record It! release earlier this year...the weathered woodgrain & flowers were exactly what I wanted for this card.  I've paired them with some older Prima Marketing flowers & wood button.  I've combined stamps from Verve & Papertrey Ink for the sentiment...most everything will be linked below.

I used the Viva la Verve October week 1 sketch to start my design, and just switched a couple elements at the bottom to flow better with the flowers.  This month's challenge at House of Cards is to use punches &/or dies, and I've used three different butterfly dies & a banner die on this card.  They are all about defining the style of your card...and I feel like this card fits the classic & elegant style, although some might say it is shabby.  What do you think?  I also wanted to link it up at Word Art Wednesday #153, which are always "anything goes".  Since my card uses a Bible verse on it, I really wanted to share it over there.



I know that this supply list isn't totally complete.  All of the flowers & the wooden button are from Prima Marketing, but they are all at least over a year old.  I don't keep any of them in their packaging, so I don't know the names, etc.  If you want to replicate my card, there are lots of beautiful flowers & buttons out there that you can substitute for what I've used. :)

That is all that I have for you this evening.  I hope you have a great night!!  Thanks for letting me share my heart a little bit.

Until later,
~L.