"3-2-1 Challenge" TCPTUES!

Hi blog friends! Hope you all are doing well. We had a bit of a vacation in beautiful Breckenridge CO over the long weekend. My in-laws rented a house and the boys had a great time snowshoeing, cross country skiing and sledding to their heart's content. :) We also went into an ice castle, very cool! I will put some pics at the bottom of the post, so you can see. This mama had a few run ins with my asthma up in the mountains. What can I say but the altitude is not my friend! I wish it was, I only snowshoed for an hour,  and down here in the Denver area, I would have been good to go for quite a bit longer than that, but up around 10,000 feet? Not so much. :( Ah well, such is life. I'm just grateful I am so much more fit than I was a few years ago. Grateful to keep up with my energetic boys and am training for a few different races. Fortunately all of them will be at my "normal" altitude of 5280! Haha! ;)

So Kimberly is our Hostess with the Mostess at The Cat's Pajamas this week. And she is challenging you to a "3-2-1 Challenge." Here's the scoop: Use 3 different patterned papers, 2 different kinds of embellishments, and 1 seam binding, ribbon, or twine. I guess I cheated a bit, since I used two different colors of Divine Twine! Ooopsies! Here's my card, I decided to use my yet-to-be-inked Ski Bunny stamp set. Particularly since we just got back from the mountains. I also used the Holiday Toppers CutUps, and my Circus Panels CutUps.

One of my patterned papers is pieced onto Ski Bun's scarf. It's teeny, but it's there! :) I used the snowflake sparkly sticker, and two glitter gems (two different KINDS of embellies, not only two embellies).

This bunny is beige in color, he looks a little more orange here than he really is.... But on the subject of orange did you hear that the Broncos are join to the Super Bowl?? :)

That's all for me today, winter fun pics are below. thanks for stopping in, and have a GREAT week! 

xo, Noelle

Sledding Fun! 

Mini cross country skiier!

Boys in the Ice Castle

my 13 year old is barely taller than me, a fact which he is gloating over! ;) 

Anything SNOWS! (Paper Smooches SPARKS)

Hi friends, It's been a crazy week and I really needed to get my craft on tonight.... I've had a great time this week-just really busy. Had some good workouts, and met a college friend at the art museum. My soul really needed that, it really helped jump my creativity again, I was feeling burned out... Plus so wonderful to catch up with a dear friend. :) Anyhow after over a week of having my desk piled up with so much stuff (I had to get out my pick axe and unearth it this afternoon....) I just felt CRAFTY finally-and that's a good thing! So many weeks of the boys having illness and the break wore me out. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, even though my entire month is scheduled as tight as my high school prom dress! HA! ;)

Anyhow I decided to do a "want to" my-heart-needs-this kinda project instead of delving into the pile of "have-to's." I am sending this over for the Anything Goes challenge at Paper Smooches SPARKS tonight. :)

I just got some fun things from Paper Smooches! I love snowmen, in fact I collect them, and they are still hanging out all over my house for another week or so. So when I saw this snowman die set, I was a smitten kitten. I got that set, the set of snowflakes, and a few other things-SO FUN! So it seemed a natural fit to use my new snowman die to make a cute winter card. There is a great line called Timbergrove by Fancy Pants Designs. Our Archiver's is going out of business (I guess they all are-kinda sad). So, I got a few things from that line, used the color scheme was my jumping off point, and a couple of the border stickers, as well as a Darice Birch embossing folder. 

The banner, heart stamp, and sentiment are also Paper Smooches. I've had those for awhile now.

I blinged out my snowflakes with some Crystal Stickers glitter domes, love these! Such a fun alternative to a typical rhinestone. I colored his cheeks with Copics for a little added character. 

This card was  a lot of fun, I really enjoyed "building" my little snowman. Maybe my mojo is returning after a long winter's nap! ;) 

I hope you like my card! Happy weekend! :)

xo, Noelle

TCP Tuesday Challenge-Anything Goes!

Iiiiiit's TUESDAY, and that means it's time for another TCP Tuesday Challenge! We are starting out the year nice and easy for ya, with an "Anything Goes" challenge! Yep, just utilize those TCP stamps and dies any way you like! We would love to see it! :)

We are going back to a WEEKLY challenge this year, so there will be lots of inspiration every week! Also, The Cat Pack will take turns hosting challenges. I have a VERY cool one scheduled for January 28th, so stay tuned!! ;)

My card for today was actually a magazine reject. As a side note, I am NOT sad because they picked up two other projects I submitted at this time for the Fall 2014 issue of CardMaker! Woot! :) But I still thought this was a fun and cute card, and you might like to see it. :)

It's my favoritest Football Bun, plus a whole lotta CutUps. You know how I love me some CutUps! Lets see... I used Framed Up, Clouds Border, Grass, Big Ticket, and Big Scallop. Plus I also used the versatile sentiments set Simply Said.

Hope you can come play this week! 

Noelle

Changes for 2014

Dear readers, 

I hope you are enjoying 2014 so far, it is a blizzard outside here today, 8" of snow + and it's still coming! :)

I wanted to share with you some changes that will be affecting paper & ICE in the coming months.... As I mentioned earlier, I have taken a new job, it's still part time at this point, which is perfect, since I still have a kindergartener at home a full 3 days a week. Yes, he DOES have a weird schedule, I know! ;) 

The new job is particularly exciting for me, because I'll be working for a professional theater company for kids. For many years (I've been a stay home mom for over 12 years now) I have wondered when I would be able to go back to work, and when the time was right, what on earth I'd be qualified to do since my college degree is in theater directing. You know what they say about degrees like theater, and underwater basket weaving! ;)  As it turns out, all those whispers in my ear from God over these last few years saying "when the time is right" were very right on! I'm hugely grateful and excited to start a new venture in something that I love, with a professional company thats main goal is one that I share, keeping theater an accessible art form for kids. 

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It's been so great to see many of my crafty friends being added to more and more DT's.  I have decided, that for me, my current path is heading a different way.... I will **not** be looking to join any other DT's besides The Cat's Pajamas anytime soon. I'm really happy there, and the amount of projects I have for them is totally manageable, plus it's such a GREAT inspirational team! :) In addition to that, I will continue contributing for publication at CardMaker magazine. They have picked up 3 of my projects so far for 2014, and I am thrilled. It feels like a good fit to be submitting to their publication. They seem to dig my style, and I love the professionalism and kindness I've seen from the staff. Finally, you know I have cut back at Craft Storage Ideas, but I am still on the team, I will be occasionally posting (Contributor at Large?) for them this year too. Outside of that, I'm not looking to join any more DT's or add more crafting to my schedule. Of course, I'll still pop by with my decorating ideas and other things I'm working on. :) Plus, you can always find me on Pinterest and Facebook. I'll be here whenever I can be. :) 

To be honest, the last year has really found me feeling a bit more like a juggler than ever.... You have probably noticed that posts have been sporadic. I have been so busy between prepping for my next theater classes, magazine submissions, TCP, training for triathlon, church commitments, PTO, book group, and then there's that whole 3 kids/hubby/2 dogs thing, since technically I'm still a SAHM, too. For years I doubted my abilities in everything, athletics, crafting, theater, and more. Now, I'm so grateful to know that I CAN do the things I want to do! It's so freeing to realize I have the abilities, even if I don't have as much time as I'd like. 

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I guess the point to this very long post is that I'll be here when I can, but I'm going to stop apologizing for being sporadic. I'll see ya when I see ya, and I'm going to quit feeling bad about it. Overall I will have less posts this year. Also, I will be dropping some of the other things from the above list; I want to thrive in the areas I decide to commit to, and quit feeling like I'm missing the mark where I am investing my time and energy. As you know, when you spread the peanut butter on your sandwich too thin it loses is deliciousness! 

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Happy New Year, dear readers. I wish you all the best that 2014 has to offer. Whatever your goals, I hope you achieve them!  I'm looking forward to this year, as this ride we call "Life" just keeps getting better and better! :) 

xo, Noelle

2013 Year In Review

Hi blog friends! Happy New Year's Eve! Hope you have fun tonight, but not so much fun that you regret it tomorrow! ;) Here are 12 projects from the last year. Some are cards, some are other things that are fun to share. The link above each one takes you to the original post regarding that project. Don't forget that the paper & ICE Facebook fan page is having a giveaway here! Thanks for popping by and HAPPY 2014!

xo, Noelle

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Boy's Baseball Birthday Card

Hi all, just wanted to pop by today with a birthday card I made yesterday. Little Ev has a birthday party to go to today, and it's baseball themed. I went with the colors purple and gold since it's a Colorado Rockies themed party.

I used to have baseball stamps when my Collin used to play. But I think I got rid of them a few years ago. I was able to use my Cricut Expression, and cut out the baseball bats and the glove on there. The bats were then stamped with a Stampin' Up! woodgrain stamp. I found the little Bella Blvd. baseball tag sticker in my stash. Then the card was done and done (as my sis would say).

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year's celebration! Boys are home and I am just trying to keep my head above water, lol.

Also, I am doing a BIG GIVEAWAY for my paper & ICE Facebook fans on the Facebook page! Check it out at that link if you can!

Hugs, Noelle