Eleanor and Pickles Magical Christmas Flight

Well.... you may find this hard to believe... but I am WAY early for a challenge! I normally like to wait till the last minute... the added stress adds years to my life... :-\ ... that might explain why I miss deadlines... but in the past... I haven't always been working with something I really liked... and in case I've not told y'all this before... I really like the Eleanor and Pickles line at Scrapbook Stamp Society. Remind me of my Hershey and her dog, Fish. :)

I thought I was done with Christmas cards but I found one last challenge I want to participate in that is Christmas themed. The rest are "anything goes"... thank goodness! I am all Christmased out! If that can be believed! Actually... as a single gal... I can tell you truthfully... I don't know if this is the case with men... the only time I discussed Christmas with a male friend he told me a story of moving furniture in his home to put up a tree... I'd not ever had a male friend tell me this before... they usually told me stories of spending the holidays with mother and family. Ssooo... for myself... I can't stand the time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year's... as a single gal... I always feel like a third wheel. :-\ I had a girlfriend once tell me she felt like that about Valentine's Day. Pffft... that's just ONE day... holiday season is a good 40+/- days! Anyway... sorry... got off track! :)

Ribbon Carousel is having a Holiday Spirit Challenge. I was more than a little frustrated this time about not having enough colors with my Copics. Definitely buying a large set of the Spectrum Noir markers I wrote about before. :-\ I know my children are gifting me Hobby Lobby gift cards but they also bought me the only two sets HL sell as well. So I have to wait until I find $179.80 laying around. :) Any minute now... :-\ lol

I made my card with Eleanor and Pickles Magical Christmas Flight. I used Divine Twine Bakers Twine from WhiskerGraphics. The challenge calls for a holiday spirit theme and requires ribbon or twine. I covered that! :) I like working with twine because it is so super easy to make bows! Since discovering this, I've become Queen of Bows. I think I covered that in a previous post. :) I find this tri-colored twine delightful! I'd say divine but then that would be redundant. ;) I think it's... in one word... wicked awesome! Love. It! It kinda makes me think bipolar though... not sure what color it wants to be... so it's three... but I still love it! :) Or is that psychotic? ;) lol

Of course, I used my Crystal Snow from Stampendous on all the fur trimmings and Liquid Applique for the snow covered rooftops. I sprinkled Crystal Snow around the "snow covered rooftops" because... and I lived in Connecticut and New Hampshire for 10+/- years so I think I know what I am talking about... snow glistens. Besides... even if I had not seen it myself... it's in all the Christmas songs I've got stuck in my head playing over and over again... :-\ I love Crystal Snow... I just HAVE to make things sparkly! Have. To! I'm like that post I've seen floating around on Pinterest and FB... I was born with glitter in my blood... or something like that but less creepy. :) I know I have it ALL over my craft room. I spilled an entire vial of red glitter almost a month ago and keep finding it. I've gone out to dinner with my daughter and sisters on different occasions since and they'd make a comment that I had glitter on my face. :-\ So it MUST be true! I've had guys I dated in the past tell me they thought of me whenever they saw something sparkly. I thought they were referring to my personality! ;) lol

Anyway... I sponged the sky with Faded Jeans, Broken China and Black Soot Tim Holtz distress inks by Ranger. In real life... the sky looks darker... I can't get it to photograph like that. I took several photos... I think it's the camera... it's from my Motorola Razor. My digital camera gave out on me this past February. A new camera... this time digital... :) ... is on my list of things to buy when I find that elusive money I know is laying around here somewhere. :)

I also used green rhinestones for the center of the bows for that extra bling! :) I found this little plastic clip that was popular years ago with the word "Glee"... I had to use it... I couldn't help thinking if I was flying around in the sky on Christmas with a frog pulling the sleigh I would be hollering "Whee!" and I didn't find a whee but I found a glee and that is pretty gosh darn close in my dictionary! ;) I'll share my dictionary with you some day... in the mean time... I'll tell you why I thought she'd be hollering "Whee"... when I moved to Connecticut back in August 1998, I stayed with my friend, Ken Smiley. He introduced a totally different country to me. Trust me... coming from Texas... Connecticut was a different country! Anyway, before arriving in Connecticut, I'd not ever seen the ocean or been on a motorcycle ride. Ken introduced me to both. I've not been on another motorcycle since but I remember the exhilarating ride and how I cried out "Whee!" on all the dips in the road! It was fun! And not fun like going up on a hot air balloon dangerously close to power lines or landing safely on the ground from a Cessna flight "fun" but FUN!!! :-D Ken Smiley... you'd think with a name like that he'd be a happy, go-lucky kinda guy... huh? Anyway... ;) ...

The background paper and card stock are from my stash. I also used a Spellbinders border on the card base. I stuck a random star in the middle of the night sky cause I thought Eleanor and Pickles might need a star to guide their way home... speaking of which...

It isn't that I am a Grinch or a Scrooge about Christmas... I know lots of folks say it's about family and loved ones... you know what? Family and loved ones are with us every single day... or as often as we want them to be. It's like Mother's Day... yeah... let's honor our mothers on a specific day but let's remember and love our mothers... Every. Single. Day... Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ... making the holiday special and presents are for children... we as Christian adults should remember the reason we are celebrating the day... humble ourselves before God and be thankful for all He has given us... not just on Thanksgiving day either. I am sickened by how materialistic society has made the day. Maybe I say this because God has spared my life twice. First back in 2009 after the automobile accident I survived... again this year when I went into remission from leukemia... I feel He gave me my life back twice because... He has great plans for me. What those plans are unclear to me right now... but He does have great plans for me. I am blessed with way more than I need. I am unemployed right now... my son is supporting us. We go without nothing. We have all the necessities of life and even some luxuries. I do make this very special Christmas wish for each and every one of you who take the time to read my random words in this ever so random way of communicating... that you do have all you need in life... air to breath... food and water to sustain you... a warm bed to sleep in at night... a roof to keep you dry... finally... the most important... people who love you without hesitation or doubt... God bless. :)