Marine Corps Birthday Blog Hop--Day 2!

If you're here to visit my blog post for Pattie's Creations, please scroll down!

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Happy Veterans' Day!  Welcome back for Day 2 of the Marine Corps Birthday Blog Hop!  Thanks to all who stopped by yesterday and left comments.  Remember--for those of you who stop by and leave comments all three days, you'll be entered into the big giveaway at the end of the hop. 

Today is the day we honor all military veterans--past and present--who have fought to keep our wonderful country free.  Thank to all of you!  My dad is a U.S. Army veteran, serving as a military policeman in Munich, Germany, from 1962-1964.  His uncle was a member of the U.S. Navy and fought and was killed during World War II in Japan.  My husband's grandfather was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and fought at Guadalcanal.  Last--but CERTAINLY not least!--my husband is a proud member of the U.S. Marine Corps and has served proudly for the past 19 1/2 years.  Thanks to my wonderful, handsome husband for giving up everything he has for the past twenty years!

For today's projects, I thought I'd post a few layouts I've done recently about my husband.  I hope he doesn't visit my blog today, as he hasn't seen these yet!

I made both of these layouts as part of a deployment album for my husband, which I'm hoping to give to him this December.  It may not be finished when I give it to him, but he won't mind.  He loves things I make for him, and I think he'll especially like this album.

As promised yesterday, I've got blog candy again today--another $10 gift card!  This one will be to your choice of Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn's, so when leaving your comment be sure to also leave a way to contact you.  If you're trying for the BIG giveaway, you've got to leave a comment each day AND be a follower.  As with yesterday, here are the requirements for the giveaways:
--Become a follower of my blog (if you're not already).
--Leave me a comment telling me you're a new follower or a follower already.
--To be eligible for the small drawings, you only need to comment on an individual day.
--To be eligible for the large drawing, you must comment each day of the hop AND be a follower.
All winners will be announced on Sunday, November 13.

Once again, here's the blog hop lineup in case you get lost along the way:
1.  Ashley (That's me!)
2.  Beckie
3.  Anita
4.  Alina
5.  Angela

Your next stop on the hop is Beckie.  Thanks for stopping by, and if you know a service member or veteran, be sure to take a moment to tell them thank you for their service.  If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today!

Semper Fi!

Pattie's Creations Challenge #33--Birthdays OR Thanksgiving

If you're here for Day 1 of the Marine Corps Birthday Blog Hop, click here.

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Happy Friday, everyone!  That means it's time for a new challenge at Pattie's Creations!  Our theme for this challenge is birthdays OR Thanksgiving.

As you can see, I decided on a birthday card.  I LOVE the Chef Pattieboop image I used from Pattie's Creations!  I colored the image with Crayola colored pencils (my new fave!), then adhered it to white cardstock before using pop dots to attach it to the red cardstock.  I distressed the edges of the red cardstock with blue ink.  The green letter stickers were from my stash, and the other letters were cut from patterned birthday paper from my stash.  I'm also entering this at this week's Birthday Sundaes challenge.

We'd LOVE to see what you can create for this challenge!  Be sure to get your creation linked up to the Pattie's Creations Challenge site before Thursday, November 24, and be sure to come back to my blog later today for Day 2 of my Marine Corps Birthday Blog Hop.  I'll have another project and another giveaway!  Happy scrapping!

Marine Corps Birthday Blog Hop

HAPPY 236TH BIRTHDAY, MARINES!!  As we celebrate the 236th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, we also remember all men and women who have chosen to serve our country so we can all be free.  I'd like to say a special thank you to my husband, who has served this country proudly for the past 19 1/2 years as a United States Marine.  He's been through five deployments, including three tours to Iraq, and he missed the birth of our son by two weeks and one day.  I am so proud to stand beside him as his wife!

Thanks for stopping by on our hop!  The ladies participating have some GREAT projects!  Some of them may be giving away blog candy, too, so be sure you visit everyone.  This is a three-day hop, and most of us will have a new project every day, so we'd LOVE it if you'd visit all three days!  My first project is a birthday card for the Marines:

Using a piece of navy blue cardstock, I stamped small Eagle, Globe, & Anchors (part of the Marine Corps logo) and then embossed them using clear embossing powder and my heat gun.  I adhered it to a blank card base and affixed a piece of red, white, & blue ribbon and a small piece of white cardstock to the blue background.  The USMC emblem diecut was in my stash, and the numbers '236' were stickers from my stash and represent the age of the Marine Corps.

I'm planning to have three small giveaways and one big one for this hop.  To be entered into the random drawing for each one, here's what you need to do:
--Become a follower of my blog (if you're not already).
--Leave me a comment telling me you're either a follower already or a new follower.
--To be eligible for the large drawing, you must comment each day of the hop AND be a follower.
--To be eligible for the small drawings, you only need comment on an individual day.
That's it!  Today's prize is a $10 gift card to Michael's, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby--your choice!  All winners will be announced on Sunday, November 13.

Here's the blog hop lineup, in case you get lost along the way:
1.  Ashley (That's me!)
2.  Beckie
3.  Anita
4.  Alina
5.  Angela

Your next stop is Beckie.  Thanks for stopping by, and if you know a service member or veteran, be sure to take a moment to tell them thank you for their service.  If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today!

Semper Fi!

My Partner in Crafting Crime Challenge #35--Use a freebie

If you're here to see my Guest Designer post for the Lollipop Crafts challenge, please scroll down!

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It's time for another challenge at My Partner in Crafting Crime!  For this challenge, all you have to do is use any freebie available to you.  If you don't use digital images, that's okay!  Just use something that you got for free or that you recycled from your home.  I used the Toasty Gingerbread Man freebie from Bows and Berries to create my card:

I followed this sketch

which I found at i{heart}2stamp, and I'll be entering it in their challenge this week.  I colored my image with Crayola colored pencils (my new fave!) and then distressed the edges with a green ink pad.  The patterned paper and ribbon are all from my stash, and the sentiment is a rub-on.

I can't wait to see what freebies everyone has!  I'm sure to get some GREAT ideas!  Be sure to get your project linked up at My Partner in Crafting Crime before November 20.  Good luck, and happy scrapping!

Lollipop Crafts Challenge #56--Thanksgiving/Fall

What an honor it is to be a guest designer at Lollipop Crafts this month!  I'm really looking forward to participating in all of their challenges this month and getting inspiration from the wonderful members of the Design Team.  For my first challenge, I was asked to create a project with a Thanksgiving or Fall theme, so this is what I came up with:

I really like the way this card turned out!  The patterned paper and ribbon are both from Bo Bunny's new Forever Fall collection.  The sentiment and cornucopia stickers are ones I picked up recently (I apologize that I don't remember who makes them!), and I used my D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder to emboss the background piece of brown cardstock. 

I can't WAIT to see how many of you play along with this challenge!  Be sure to get your project linked up to the Lollipop Crafts site by Sunday, November 13, and check back here on Thursday to see my creation for the Spotlight.  Happy scrapping, everyone!

Paper Cutz Challenge #116--Gobble, Gobble!

Today was a lovely, rainy day in southern California!  Yes, you read that right--I said "lovely" and "rainy" in the same sentence.  It doesn't rain very much here, so it's always quite nice when it does.  Being from the beautiful South, I miss a good thunderstorm!

Being that it's Friday, that means it's time for a new challenge at the Paper Cutz Challenge!  This week, we'd like to see you create a card, layout, or craft project for Thanksgiving that also incorporates a recipe for your favorite Thanksgiving dish.  Unfortunately, I don't have a project to show you this week. :-(  Our precious St. Bernard, Sweet Pea, had to have emergency surgery for a life-threatening infection we weren't aware she had.  Needless to say, we've had a VERY emotional week!  We now owe Sweet Pea's life to the wonderful Dr. Landen and her team at Mission Bird & Animal Hospital.  We will forever be indebted to them, and they will always hold a special place in our hearts.

I can't WAIT to see what everyone has in store for their projects this week!  I'm sure I'll learn about some great recipes, too.  Be sure to get your project linked up to the Paper Cutz Challenge site by midnight EST on Thursday, November 17.  Yep!  You read THAT right, too--Paper Cutz Challenge is going to EVERY 2 WEEKS beginning with this challenge, AND we'll be giving a prize to the random.org winner of EVERY challenge!  Good luck, and happy scrapping!

Lollipop Crafts November Guest Designer!!!

Hi, everyone!  I have a WONDERFUL announcement today--I'm the guest designer for the entire month of November at Lollipop Crafts!  I'm REALLY excited about working with everyone over there!  These ladies have some great challenges and even greater projects.  Stop back by here on Monday to see my first creation for the month.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy scrapping!