PAPER BLESSINGS--"Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" Ecclesiastes 9:10

New Blog Home

2009-08-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Hey all my friend and followers. I have been absent for quite a while, but I have combined all my blogs into one and I will be posting 2-3 times a week on my new blog. It is named Dixieland Blessings and you can get to it here:
http://dixielandblessings.blogspot.com I have been trying to keep all my craft blogs seperate for the people that like that craft only, but art is art whether it be sewing, paper crafting, pottery or whatever. I found myself not writing to any because I was tired of swapping back and forth. I hope you will join me in the future as I take on new projects. Come visit and leave a comment so I know you have been there. Take care. Be healthy, happy, safe. Smile 'til your face hurts and always hug those you love. God bless ya'll!!

She Smiles!!

2009-05-07T06:07:00.001-07:00

"Strength and dignity are her clothes and she smiles at the future" Proverbs 31:13

She smiles!!!! It has been a long hard road for my baby girl, but she accomplished her goal and opened new doors in her life. I have very seldom seen her smile over the past two years while in nursing school, but that has changed. I have heard nothing but laughter and giggles since the phone call I received the other day saying school is over, I passed, and I am out!!!!!! Last night was the pinning ceremony and today is graduation. Her teachers had such sweet things to say about her. I felt so proud!!!! She has a job with our local hospital working on the cardiac floor. She takes her review for state boards next week and then her certification test. She set high standards for herself, and her face shows that she has accomplished these. The guy with her is her long time boyfriend. They have been together most of the past 7 years. The future holds many exciting things for these two, and I expect to see many smiles in the future. Be healthy, happy, safe. Hug the ones you love, and may God bless ya'll---He sure has us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny how God works!

2009-04-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

It is funny how God works. I have been struggling with lots of trials lately, and have been asking God for a little more help than normal. I made a vow at the first of the year that I was going to get more involved in my church, and I have. Little did I know that He would use me as a voice for Him. I have been seeing this lady at church who has just started working at the hospital where I work. She always speaks to me, by my first name and I speak back, but I am sad to say I did not know her name. I even struggled last week in the hall when she introduced me to her husband at church, and I was very thankful that my husband was down the hall talking because I would not have known how to introduce her to him without asking her name, and I felt this would be awkward. Anyway, I saw her at work Wednesday, and she told me she and her husband had decided to join our church. I was hugging her and telling her how proud I was and she told me that her husband had wanted to join for a while, but she was nervous about going down front and standing in front of all those strangers. She said she just did not know if she could do it. I immediately told her I would walk with her if she wanted me to, and her face just went from sad and scared to happy and joyous. As we talked some more she told me that she really had not known if they would fit in our church. I still am not sure what that feeling is about, but I feel like she just needed someone to accept her and make her feel welcome. We have a very large church and a wonderful pastor, but we, as all churches do, have some who hold themselves on a higher ground than others and I feel that she was being intimidated by these. Anyway, after a long conversation of when I could walk with her--we are out of town this weekend and there is another conflict the next week--I feel like she feels she can do it alone now. I found out her name immediately after our conversation, and I made this card for her. The scripture is Phillippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". I am attatching it to a small gift I got her and am taking it to her tomorrow. I wrote a little encouragement in it. I feel like God used me to witness to her to not be afraid. I also learned that if someone takes the time to know who you are then you better take the time to learn who they are. I know that my heart is better for this experience and my spirit is rejuvenated.

The cardstock is Brazzill and the designer paper is from Pebbles Inc. It is the "So Tweet Collection". The stamp and cross are from Papertrey Ink. The buttons are from Doodlebugs. I hope ya'll are having a blessed day. We are going out of town tomorrow for a soccer tourniment and will be gone all weekend. Stay safe, be happy and healthy, hug the ones you love and may God Bless Ya'll!!!!

HELLO!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-26T04:35:00.001-07:00

I am not lost. I have returned. My life has taken a roller coaster ride lately, but things are calming. Free time seems to be something I do not have much of these days, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I decreased my time at work, thinking I would have more time to be creative and play, only to find that everyone I know has something they have been wanting me to do. I will be posting soem projects this weekend, but not finished yet. I decided to post today, because of this great blog candy I saw this morning while blog hopping. The site is
http://www.zhibit.org/elisabethbell/blog/super-scrummy-blog-candy-give-away It is awesome what she is offering. Please go look. I will be back later today with some news and pics. Ya'll take care. Be safe, healthy, happy and as always-----May GOD bless ya'll!!!

Cupcake Gift Tags

2009-01-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

I found a little time to play today, and this is what I came up with. These are gift tags. On the back, I stamped a sentiment by Unity Stamps that says "have a sweet day". I used chocolate ink from CTMH to stamp the images and sentiment. The cardstock is Brazill and the designer paper is from ki memories. It is the Bloom Collection-Canopy. The ribbon is from Stampin Up and I used my scalloped punches. They are a happy thing and I can just see them hanging on a package with bright colors and tissue paper.

Everyone made it home safely yesterday. Last to arrive was Carre about 4:30. She and her friend stopped in Millington, TN and got her friend a new puppy. It is a female Westie (West Highland Terrior-I think) and her name is Gypsy. I cannot wait to see her. The hunters did not have any luck. Jack made it in from New Orleans in time to see the 2nd half of the Ole Miss game. What about those Rebels? I went to Mississippi State and my children have split the colleges. One went to State and the other to Ole Miss. There was a time when I could not have thought about yelling for them, but I have mellowed and I can thank my kids for that. The other person that made it home yesterday was Logan, one of my friends grandbabies. Hopefully with continued prayers Landon will be home in a few weeks. I spent a little while yesterday rocking. He is so sweet and loves to lay on his stomach and cuddle on your shoulder. I thank God everyday that these boys have progressed this far so fast.

Well I guess I better cook supper and get these boys fed. Simon has spend the night company and I decided to fry some fish I had in the freezer. Ya'll take care, be healthy, happy, and safe. See ya tomorrow. God bless ya'll.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T08:20:00.001-08:00

I wish for everyone a blessed, healthy, happy new year. I plan to be more creative. My goals are to make at least one card a week, and to spend more time at home instead of work. I am tired!!! I also have started sewing again, and plan on taking a quilting class in late January. I also am going to keep my other blog updated weekly or more as well. Life is to short to waste time. Enjoy every minute. The above card is my new motto for 2009--Go for long walks, indulge in hot baths, question your assumptions, be kind to yourself, live for the moment, LOOSEN UP ( my kids will love this one), scream, curse the world ( only if it really needs it), count your blessings (daily), just let go, just be!! Try it folks, you might like it too.

Update on the babies--Logan is coming home tomorrow. Yea! Yea! Yea! Landon is planned to come home in two weeks. He will have to come home on oxygen though, but that is minor to where they have been. I appreciate all the prayers that ya'll have given for these two. God is great and he has blessed my friend and her family with these beautiful babies.

Ya'll take care now. My family is really spread out this holiday. Me and little buddie (Simon) are home, Carre is in Gatlinburg with friends welcoming in the new year--they called me at 2 am to tell me Happy New Year and they were in for the night. God bless youth!! Doss is up a tree somewhere hunting, I will see him later in the day, Daddy is also hunting, but he also will be home this afternoon, and Jack (hubby) is in New Orleans working. Have a blessed day, hug your loved ones, and stay warm( it is even cold here!!). God bless ya'll!!!!!!

Oh, almost forgot. Saw this while blog hopping this am--2009 is the year of the cupcake!! Cupcakes are happy and I think I will also follow this. Have you ever seen a cupcake that did not make you smile?? Take care!!

My Pink Christmas Tree

2008-12-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

HEY YALL!!!! Wow time flies when you are insanely busy. It has been a while since I wrote anything so let me update you and you will see why. Family is great. Daughter just finished her 3rd semester of nursing school {doing really good, keep praying for her, please}, oldest son doing great with his job, and little buddy just being little buddy--the greatest little kid I know. Hubby has not been working as much as usual--always slow this time of year, but slower than normal this year. Being that his work is slow means he is home. He usually works on the road 4-5 days a week, and home on the weekends, well he has been home about 6 weeks. This has been quite an adjustment. Less stamping and creating---more cooking, cleaning, and washing. Life is good though and I hope all of you are the same.

Last post I wrote about my friends grandbabies, well Landon and Logan entered the world at 29 weeks. They are in the NICU in Jackson { which is about 1 1/2 hours from here} but doing great. Landon weighed 2 lbs 5 oz. and Logan weighed 3 lbs. 5 oz. They were born here in our hometown. I was at a soccer tournament with my phone on silent--you have to know me to know I never do this--when it all went down. I had 5 missed calls and numerous missed texts when I realized my phone was off. I finally got my daughter on the phone and went to the hospital. They were already born, but I got to see them before the ambulance arrived to take them to Jackson. Dawn {the actual granny} and I got to take Mary Beth {the mommy} to the hospital 5 days after they were born to see, touch, and spend time with her babies for the first time. It was awesome!!!! She was not supposed to travel yet, but seeing that her mother and I are both long time nurses we talked theOB doc into letting us take her. Great Day folks!! You just should have been there. As of yesterday, Landon weighs 4 lbs. 7 oz. and Logan weighs 6 lb. 3 oz. Keep praying for them. I do not think they will make it home by Christmas, but you never know. Miracles happen everyday. Now with all that said, I did have time to decorate my PINK Christmas tree that I have in my office at home. I even made a lot of the ornaments with my cardstock and designer paper. I will take a close up pic and post on another day. I also have been sewing a lot. Making Christmas presents and smocking for the babies. I started a new sewing blog, but I have only made 2 entries. If you would like to visit the address is http://sewblessed3.blogspot.com/ . My fingers are tired. I have not been use to all this typing. Going to Jackson tomorrow to wrap up my shopping and to see the babies. Plan on starting to cook this weekend. Yall don't give up on me now. I am fixing to get back in the swing of things and start writing and showing my creations on a regular basis. Be safe, healthy, loved and God bless yall!!

We're Fine!!!!

2008-08-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the concerned comments and emails. I am fine and so are the family. We had a wonderful vacation in Florida, and when we got back school started and things got hectic. I have not been able to get motivated to stamp. I think my mind was spinning too fast. This week though I got back into the groove. Simon started the fourth grade--wow time flies!! Carre started her second of year of nursing school. This time next year she should be done and working. Doss started his job and is really likeing it. Everybody is here most of the time now and it is really neat. I have more to do, but I love the nights when everybody is here for supper. I have been reading a lot and doing a lot more cooking that normal. I started reading while on vacation, and have been using this for my escape from reality. I have just about read all the books I had stock piled, so I see more stamping in the future. Lots of things going on here. My best friend came over before I left and told me she was going to be a grandmother again. Last year her oldest had a little girl, and this year her youngest is going to have twin boys. We have been going through the smocking books getting ready for Christmas. She has not picked out just which patterns she wants done, but as soon as she does I will start on them. She is so calm, I would be nuts!! Her daughter is doing fine, but one of the babies is not growing as much as the other. Please include them in your prayers. My family is great at the moment, and I thank God everyday for this. You never know what can happen in an instant these days. The card above is made with Brazzil card stock and Ki designer paper--grasshopper. The stamp is from Unity Stamps and the felt butterflies are from Heidi Swapp. The fibers are some I have had for ever. Ya'll take care. Be safe, be happy, and be healthier. Please pray for my dad, he is having some medical problems also. God bless ya'll!!!!

Taylor's Thallenge

2008-07-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is my take on Taylor's Cupcake Challenge for this week. The sketch and her blog are here: http://www.tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/ This is always great challenges, and if you have never entered you should. The Cp is from CTMH and the DP is from Junkitz. It is the Teresa Collins Shabby Chic Collection. I have had this paper for sometime. The eyelets are from CTMH-Baby Pink. The ric rac ribbon is from my stash. The sentiment and image are from My Favorite Things, and is called Hey Cupcake!!

There are lots of blog candy give aways out there in blogland today. I am going to list some links, and ya'll go see:

http://yingandrubberstamping.blogspot.com/2008/07/high-hopes-new-release-blog-candy.html Ying Pang's blog

http://spiralwhisper.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-candy-giveaway.html Spiral Whisper's blog

http://donaldas.blogspot.com/2008/07/challenge-blog-for-children.html Donalda's blog

http://andreabrownjohn.blogspot.com/2008/07/magnolia-blog-candy-pauline-from.html Andrea's blog

http://mariascards.blogspot.com/2008/07/5000-hits-blog-candy.html Maria's blog

Ya'll go see and join in the fun!! Be safe, be happy, be healthy and God bless ya'll!!

Blog Hopping

2008-07-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll!! I have been lost at work all week, and this is the first day I have had to create or talk. With vacations and pregnancies, I may never get my weekly day offs again until winter. No really, I see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it does not shine until mid August!! It's ok in some ways though because most of this work is overtime!! Great vacation money.

Back to the important things--as ya'll know, I am on the design challenge team of Nina's Purple Fairie Paper Crafts http://www.purplefaeriepapercrafts.com/. The above card was the July challenge. She sent us a stamp from her store and teh challenge was to use a quilting technique. This was mine. The cardstock is from Bazzill and the designer paper is from Pink Paislee's Spring collection. The stamp is Purple Fairie's Star Quilt. The sentiment and faux stitching is from CTMH's Simple Stitches. Ribbon is mine from my stash. Technique used is paper piecing. This was so much fun to do!!

While blog hopping this morning and sipping my coffee (I slept in!!) I found the neatest blog. The artwork is fantastic and the creativity is awesome. Not only that, she is offering blog candy now that rocks!! Her name is Maya http://mayas-hobbyblogg.blogspot.com/. Please go see. You will be glad you did. I believe this is one of the best blogs I have seen in a while. I am going to start creating and finish my coffee. Take care. Be safe, be happy, be healthy and God bless ya'll!!

iheart2stamp challenge-070508

2008-07-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the Sketch for You to Try at http://www.iheart2stamp.com/. The stamp is one I received this week from Lisbet at Scrapmagasinet http://scrapmagasinet.blogspot.com/ She was having blog candy and I won. This stamp line is so cute. It is called the Rakle Collection and there are lots of stamps. Go take a look at the cute creations she has as well as the stamps. The cardstock and designer paper are CTMH. The brads are a long time item of mine and I have no idea where I got them. The sentiment is printed on the computer, and the flower is from Petaloo. Layering and paper piecing are the techniques I used.

I am really trying to catch up on lots of things I have neglected this weekend. I was given an award this week from Bev at "All the Things I Love" http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/ but I am not computer savvy and my big kids are out of town so I cannot get the award symbol to tranfer to my blog. It was "The Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008" award and I was so honored to be chosen by her for this. I am to nominate 7 more people, but until I can show the award, I think it best to wait.

My encouragement for today is:

"Creativity is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God"-- ---Bob Moawad

I found two new blogs this week and I want ya'll to go look and let them know how well they are doing. The first is Christie's http://www.blessingsonpaper.com/ It is awesome. The next is http://polkadotmoon.blogspot.com/ Ya'll stop by and comment and give them encouragement. Comments are always a good incentive booster and can get those artist juices flowing.

I have a few more challenges to complete and I will see ya'll back this week. As always---be safe, be happy, be healthy--hug those you love, an extra hug or two won't hurt--and the most important, God Bless Ya'll!!!

Great Blog Candy!!

2008-07-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

While blog hopping this am before going to work, I came across a wonderful blog with great candy. This is the link to the candy:
http://rosaswelt.blogspot.com/2008/06/de-licous-candy.html
She has great artwork and this candy is sthe bomb!! She is giving away a Magnolia stamp as well as a great altered book to keep your images in and images also. Go check it out!! God bless ya'll!!

Catch Up Time!!

2008-07-05T06:26:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to find the time to thank all these people for the wonderful RAK's I received on Bella RAK Day last month. These cards are great!! The one with the horse and tag was received from Donna and it was about Florida. Thanks Donna. I am heading your way in about 2 1/2 weeks. The Beach Bella was from Melissa and it was all about Louisiana. My hubby will be your way in about 1 month. He works there about 1/2 the year. Thank you!! The Wineabella card is from Denise and it was all about Indiana. Hopefully, I will make it there someday. Thanks!! The last card was Javabella and it was from Mary and all about Montana. My oldest son has been there and said it was absolutely gorgeous. Hope I make that trip someday also. Thank you for thinking of me!! Due to the increase cost of gas and everything else, a lot of family vacations have been cancelled this year, so an idea was made on Bellaholics Anonymouse to send RAK's showcasing your state. Lots of the girls did it and everyone enjoyed all the wonderful cards and postcards along with descriptions of important places. Really good idea!!!

The Shopabella card is one I received from Jen as a PIF. Her blog is :

http://inking-obsessions.blogspot.com/ I entered her Pay It Forward contest and she picked me as one of the people to receive her gifts. The idea is to receive, then post on your blog and pick 3 and you PIF them. So, I will pick 3 people who comment on this post and they will receive some goodies from me. I received some great stamped images!! They were by Stampin Bella and House Mouse. Please comment so you have the chance to win. I have some great things ready to go out.

Hope everyone had a great 4th. I ended up working, but my family was able to do the fun things. Take care. Be happy, be healthy, be safe, and God bless ya'll!!!

OCC Challenge-6/28/2008

2008-07-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Our Creative Corner http://www.ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ has a weekly challenge they issue on Saturdays. Last weeks challenge was to use Basic Grey paper on your card. This is my entry. The card base is white cardstock. The designer paper is "Two Scoops" from Basic Grey. The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink, and the stamp set is an old one from Stampin Up. It is called "Sweet Herbs". The image and sentiment are from this set. The image is colored with CTMH markers. Oh yea, the bauble is from Stampin Bella. Hope you enjoy!! I am on my way to the grocery store. I will see ya'll later. Take care. Be healthy, happy, safe, and God bless ya'll!!!!

What a Week!!!

2008-06-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

What a week. I have been so busy at work, that I was not able to stamp until today. This card is for Jen's Sketch For You To Try from Saturday over on her blog http://www.iheart2stamp.com/ This is one challenge I try to do every week. The cardstock is Bazzill and the designer paper is from Making Memories. The ribbon is from Stampin Up and so is the image. The set I used is called Peace and Hope. It is an older set, but I use it a lot. The baubles are from Stampin Bella. The techniques I used were layering and masking. I colored the image with my chalks. I have not done this in quite a while. I had forgotten how much fun the chalks were.

The two newbies I would like to spotlight today are: Jami's blog
http://jamiscrazedthoughts.blogspot.com/ Her kids are precious and her artwork is neat. She has been blogging for a while, but I just found her. The other is a new stampin store fixing to get going. It is called Spiral Whisper and the stamp sets they are showing are great. The address is http://spiralwhisper.blogspot.com/ Go give them a look and let them know what a good job they are doing.

I am including all my weekly usuals in today's post. Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow, but we are short handed at work due to vacations and people on maternity leave, so you never know. This week we had 2-3 other people calling in sick each day, so that killed us. I even had to work on my day off. I hope this week will be better.

This week's encouragement is:
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley

I hope ya'll have a great week. Enjoy the Fourth, but be safe. Take care of all your friends and family. Be healthy and happy. Hug all those you love, and God bless ya'll!!!

Painted Cross

2008-06-20T03:40:00.001-07:00

A little something different today. I painted this cross for my daughter the other day. She has been having a little difficulty in her personal life lately and I thought this would help cheer her up. It did!! She loves crosses, and has several throughout her house, so I made this one for her bedroom. I have done some of these for gifts lately and love doing them.

I am on call again this weekend, so I do not know if I will have time to post a lot, but I will try. Ya'll have a great time this weekend. Be safe, be happy, be healthy. Hug those loved ones, and God bless ya'll!!

Color Challenge Entry

2008-06-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

While blog hopping this evening, I saw this color challenge on Bela's blog
http://belascreatingplace.blogspot.com/. There were three different challenges--sheet challenge, hammock challenge, and outdoor party challenge. They are all color challenges. The winners will get a High Hopes stamp. I submitted this for the outdoor party color challenge. I made the card using Bazzill CS. The DP is from Pink Paislee and K &Co. The stamped image and sentiment are from MFT. The flower embellishment and the ribbon are random from my stash. The image is paper pieced except for the skin and it was colored with my CTMH markers. This challenge closes out tomorrow at midnight. It is a great challenge and her blog is wonderful. She is really creative. Go look and see. Hope ya'll have a good evening and God bless ya'll!!!!

2008-06-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

Today's card is one I made a couple of days ago. I saw a card similar to this while browsing, with the basic brown and off white cs and background and then a hint of color added. I am so sorry, but I cannot remember where I saw it, but I did comment to the person about how much I loved this. If the technique is cased from you, please let me know so I can go back and give you credit. The CS is from Bazzill and the Dp is from Jenni Bowlin Studio. The ribbon is from my stash and the sentiment and stamp are from the Stampin Up set "Thanks from the Heart". The baubles were used as an accent embellishment. The fibers are also some scraps from my stash.

This week's encouragement is: "Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others"---------Plato

I would also like to let you know about two newbies today also: the first is not brand new, but I think it is a good one that should be highlighted. It is

http://fortheartofit.blogspot.com/... The other is not brand new either, but deserves some recognition. It is http://inking-obsessions.blogspot.com/ Both ladies have awesome talent and neat life conversations. Time has come for me to get ready for work. Take care! Be healthy, be happy, be safe and hug those loved ones. May God bless ya'll!!!

The Wild Bunch

2008-06-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

The weather held off and we had a great birthday!! This is the wild bunch. Really they were great. The drive was 1 hour 45 minutes each way, and they were real angels. The water park is so neat. We will be going back before summer ends. Simon had a blast. The first two pics are from the water park, which I do not have a lot of because I left the water proof camera here and only had my digital. The last pic was when we got home. They rolled out of the car and started wrestling in the front yard. I think they bottled up all their energy until we got home. We did the cake and ice cream thing after we got back home. Thanks for all the prayers for great weather and the birthday well wishes. He thought that was so neat that people he did not know where wishing him happy birthday. I will be back later to post a card, but I have to get to work now. Take care, be healthy, be happy, and be safe. God bless ya'll, and have a great day!!

Beate's Challenge #52

2008-06-16T10:45:00.001-07:00

I am on vacation today and tomorrow, because my little one turns 10 tomorrow. The plan is to take 4 or 5 of his friends to the water park. We are leaving here at 8:30 in the am--park opens at 10:30, and it is a 2 hour drive--stay all day and come here late tomorrow for cake and ice cream. He is so excited. We have run into a few kinks though. #1-his best friends are off at camp, #2- it may rain, #3- baseball games. I hope it all works out for him. He is so excited. I am fixing to go and finish making his cake. I did have time this a.m. to make this card for Beate's Challenge. It is a very simple design. The only hard part was the water coloring. If you visit my blog much, you know I am a paper piecer, not a colorer. It turned out better than I thought. The cardstock is from Bazzill and the DP is from Daisy D's. The image is from an old Stampin Up set called "Friends". I used my CTMH inks to color. Ya'll have a great day. I close with my usual--Be safe, be healthy, be happy--Hug your loved ones--and by far the most important--God bless ya'll!!!!

Jen's Sketch Challenge-June 14th

2008-06-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, this will probably be my last card for today. This is for Jen del Muro's weekly sketch challenge. I used Brazzill cardstock, and my DP is from Doodlebug Designs. The image and sentiment are from MFT-Think Pink. The flowers are from Petaloo, and the brads are some I have had for a while. I love her sketch challenges. They always get your brain working. I will chat with ya'll later. God bless ya'll!!!!

Our Creative Corner Challenge #1

2008-06-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is my take on the Our Creative Corner Challenge for this week. This is a new group of very talented ladies who have begun their own corner of blog land. They will be posting challenges weekly. Todays challenge was designed my Cindy Haffner http://cindyhaffnerscorner.blogspot.com/ I used Bazzill cardstock with Ki Memories DP. The brads are from Heidi Grace. The image is Savvyshoppabella from Stampin Bella. The flower is from Doodlebugs. All the image was paper pieced except the face and hair, and I used my CTMH markers for this. Go check out their site for the sketch and more inspirations http://www.ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ I am going to work on some of the weekend challenges today and wait on hubby. God bless ya'll!!!

Father's Day

2008-06-14T23:40:00.001-07:00

This is the card I made for hubby. I got the shirt pattern off Lil Scrapper's http://www.lilscrappers.ca/catalog/index.php This site has great ideas and help with projects. They also have a neat store. This DP is from CTMH as well as the brads. It was real easy to make. The second pic is the insert that slips inside the shirt. We got him several pairs of new shorts for the summer and gave them to him yesterday because he needed them to wear somewhere, but we are saving the card for today. He is going to love it. I think he has already seen the card because I saw where he had been snooping around my craft desk and the computer, but I did not do the insert until now, so he will be surprised. Hope ya'll have a great day with your family. We have very little planned. Take care, be safe, be happy, be healthy. Hug your loved ones! God bless ya'll!!

Happy Birthday!!

2008-06-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I was playing with my bellas today, and realized I had never inked this one. The stamp is "Partygirlabella" Isn't she cute and happy? The card stock and designer paper came in my new monthly kit from Paper Posies

http://www.paperposies.com/ It is full of fun things to use. The DP is from K&Co., and the cardstock is from Bazzill. The fibers I used on this card are from the Two Scoops Collection from Basic Grey. The eyelets are watermelon from CTMH. Other embellishments I used are Cotton Candy Stickles and Baubles. Just a little happy card.

Today is the day I highlight 2 new blogsites I have found while browsing. The first one is: http://craftingforsanity.blogspot.com/ Kimmie is doing a great job. She is real creative. The other one is :

http://lil-bittacreativity.blogspot.com/ Theresa is also very creative, and doing an awesome job with her blog. Go give these girls some comments and let them know how good they are.

I woke up this am to hubby saying that the air conditioning was off when he got up!! He cleaned the coils and washed out the grass thrown from the lawnmower on the grates. So far everything has been fine today, and it is 93 degrees outside. I have do have the repair man on speed dial if it goes bad. Hope everyone has a great day filled with love and laughter. Be healthy, be happy, be safe. Hug those you love and God bless ya'll!!

Sick Friend

2008-06-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday. I did not get to post my encouragments on Sunday because I was on call and had to go in to work. Then when I got home, I had to cook for a party yesterday at work. One of our employees turned 60 yesterday, and we had a little party. He is one of my dearest co-workers and friend. He has just found out that he is sick, and I wanted this birthday to be special. He lives at home and takes care of his 98 y/o mother. Please include him in your prayers. We go to the doctor tomorrow to schedule some more treatments he is going to have to have. He does not have anyone to take care of him, so I am his caregiver. I go with him to his appointments when I can, so I can help him better understand what is going on. I got several of the other people at work to cook something also--you know those that you can always depend on. He really enjoyed it and he had a great happy day.

The encouragement I picked for this week is simple---

Be aware of wonder-Live a balanced life-Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some-------Robert Fulgham

The card is one I threw together this weekend. The cardstock is from Bazzill. The DP is from Pink Paislee. The sentiment is from Sweet N Sassy Stamps--Trust in the Lord. The ribbon is some I won in a blog candy give away. The cross is one I use for my pottery and I decided to use it on my card. I hope ya'll have had a great day. Be safe, happy healthy. Hug your loved ones, and God bless ya'll!!!!!

Jen's Sketch Challenge-June 7th

2008-06-07T14:26:00.001-07:00

Jen del Muro's sketch challenge for this week was a little tricky for me. It needed a big circle or oval and I do not have any real large punches. I did have this one from my Sizzix, but it is really a frame punch. Oh well, I think it came out ok. This entire project is from Paper Trey Ink except the baubles, and they are from Stampin Bella. The card stock colors are Sweet Blush and Berry Sorbet. The stamp set is Out On a Limb. The ribbon is sweet blush dot swiss, and the baubles are a Squeeze of Lime. Fun! Fun! Fun! These challenges are getting my mojo back. See ya'll later, and God bless ya'll.

Beate's Sketch Challenge # 51

2008-06-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Beate's sketch challenge for this week was really neat. I received this paper in the mail today. It was the March Paper Pretties box. Cannot tell you why it came today, but I was glad it did. I was working on another challenge when the mailman came, and I immediately started on this. Love this paper. The cardstock is Bazzill. The DP is from The Paper Company Studio--Multidot and Floral Stripe. The ribbon also came from here. The baubles are from Stampin Bella, and if you have not looked lately, there were some new bellas released this week. Hope ya'll are having a great weekend. Be safe, be happy, be healthy and hug your loved ones. God bless ya'll!!

Another MFT card!

2008-06-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

I love MFT stamps. I have had this one for a while, but never inked until the other day. The DP and cardstock are scraps from a page I did for my daughter's senior year scrapbook about 3 years ago. I have no idea where I got them, or what company makes them. Sorry!!! The stamped images and sentiment are from the "By The Seashore" stamp set by MFT--they have some really neat new stamps just out. If you have not seen them you should go look http://www.mftstamps.com/home/homepage.html I paper pieced the main image--imagine that!! I used my corner rounder to scallop the edges of the DP. I hope you enjoy looking!! Not much going on today. Oh, my daughter started her first IV today at work. In nursing this is a biggie. I will be back tomorrow with some new stuff I have done. Be safe, be happy, and be healthy. Hug those you love--maybe an extra time! God bless ya'll!!

Newbies!!

2008-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

I finished my day stamping. We just finished supper, and I am getting ready to go to bed. I get up on the days I go to work at 4:30, this is my quiet time to drink my coffee, check my email, and just enjoy the silence. They called me from work earlier and told me tomorrow was bad--lots of cases, so I am going to bed soon. I hope ya'lls day has been as pleasent as mine. I did forget to do something earlier when I posted, and that was to highlight 2 new blogs. The first one I have chosen is:
http://simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com/ I found it today while scoping blogworld. She has some cute, cute stuff. Let her know how good she is doing. Comments are an inspiration!! The next one I chose is:
http://cardsandcreationsbychristine.blogspot.com/ Awesome artwork and creativity. Please go visit and let them know you have been there. I better get going. Take care, be healthy, happy and safe. God bless ya'll!!

Jen's Sketch Challenge

2008-06-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!! The sun is shining here, which is great since lately we have had lots of rain. I started that new shift about 3 weeks ago, and today is the first day that I really did not have to do anything but play. I am working 4- 10 hour days and am off one day a week. I have done this shift before and it is the best for my life. Boy did I ever play. I have made several cards that I will show over the next few days. This card is for Jen's Sketch for You to Try from Saturday. This is the link to this challenge:
http://iheart2stamp.com/2008/05/31/special-edition-of-sketch-for-you-to-try/ She and all the girls used Bellas or a stamp from Stampin Bella. I have been needing to ink this one, so I chose it. The cardstock is from Bazzill, the designer paper is from K & Co. The image is "Sweetybellas". The saying is from Studio G. The eyelets are Garden Green from CTMH, and the only coloring that was done was with CTMH markers-Garden Green, Cranberry, and Flesh. The buttons are from S.E.I.-Wiinnie's Walls Collection. I used the paper piecing and layering techniques. The fibers are some scraps I had in my fiber drawer. Guess I will get back to my cardmaking. See ya'll soon. Be safe, happy, healthy. Hug your loved ones, and God bless ya'll!!!!!!!!

Great Blog Candies

2008-06-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

No artwork ready to post, but I did want to let ya'll know about these great blog candy giveaways. The first is over at Lil Deb's Happy Place
http://lildebstampscrap.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-candy.html and the other is over at Lisbet's Scrapmagasinet and the link to her's is
http://scrapmagasinet.blogspot.com/2008/06/blogcandy.html Both these women are extremely talented. Go see how creative they are. I will be back tomorrow with artwork and new blogs to visit. Take care, hug those you love, and God bless ya'll. Have a great day!!

Wow, June 1st!

2008-06-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, I cannot believe today is June 1st. My baby will be 10 in a few weeks. Time is going by too fast. Today has been quiet for me and the weekend call. Jack and Simon went to church, the end of VBS program was today. I don't usually go when on call, because of the need to take two cars and beepers. I hate to have to get up in the middle of something and leave. I picked up lunch for us at my favorite restaurent, and I plan on doing nothing the rest of the day, hopefully. When I finally got home yesterday, and sat down, I crashed. We ended up working 8 1/2 hours.

The card above is one I did this a.m., while everyone was gone. I may use it for a challenge I have been given this month, but not sure yet. The cardstock is from Archivers. My good friend and bella sistah, LeAnne,
http://milehighstampandscrap.blogspot.com/ sent this papercrafting kit to me not to long ago, and I could not wait to use it. I love the papers and colors. The DP is from Daisy D's Chasing Butterflies Collection. The stamps are from MFT www.mftstamps.com and it is called "Say Charge". The ribbon is from my stash, and the flower and button brads are from Bazzill "imaginisce"---Crotched Flowers and Evening Surf Button Brads. I used the paper piercing technique on the main stamped image. It is like playing with paper dolls again. Everything on the image is pp except the shoes, and they are colored with my CTMH markers-Cranberry, Moonstruck, and New England Ivy. The other technique I used is layering. I combined all three primary colors from the DP to make the layering.

One last thing for today is my Sunday Encouragement---------------
"I have learned from experience that the greater part of our
happiness or misery, depends on our dispositions and not our
circumstances---------Martha Washington"
Take care, hug your loved ones, and God bless ya'll!!!

Confusion Challenge

2008-05-31T04:44:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post today because I am on call this weekend. Worked 15 1/2 hours yesterday, and today already has 4 cases, so I am looking at around 8 hours today. VACATION MONEY!!!!! I saw this color challenge on Toni's http://toniarmstrong.blogspot.com/2008/05/tcp-tuesday_26.html blog and decided to try it. Airhead me, did not pay a lot of attention to where it originated and just saw the cat--Thinking I have some cute stamps from this company, excuse me, wrong company. The origination is from The Cat's Pajamas--whichI love their stamps, but only have Christmas ones at this time. Making a long story short, I used the cat stamps I had from Pink Cat Studio with the color challenge and was unable to submit to this challenge, but I did submit to the PCS gallery. Sorry for the short choppy sentences today, but in a hurry. Gotta go! Be safe, be healthy, hug your loved ones, and God bless ya'll!!!

2008-05-31T04:44:00.001-07:00

B Happy

2008-05-29T06:43:00.001-07:00

Good Morning. It is the beginning of a beautiful day here. The past couple of days it has rained, but the sun is shining today. My daughter started her externship at the hospital today. She came by this a.m. at 5:30 to see if I thought she looked ok. She reminded me of when she was little and always had to have a model show to see what she looked like before going anywhere. She is really nervous. She is going to work in the ER doing 12 hour shifts. It is really a good program. They have a preceptor that works with them, and basicly they do all normal nursing skills. I am real excited for her. The little one is in Vacation Bible School in the mornings this week and football camp in the afternoons. I let him ride his bike today to the church. It is about 8 blocks from our house. Last night was family night. I did not know about it until I got home from work, and we had about 30 minutes to get there. My husband came in as we were going out the door. He only had about 10 minutes. Bless his heart. He just went in his work clothes. He is real picky about looking good before he leaves the house, and it was funny to see him not all together. Once he ate though, he was like who cares what we look like. My oldest son is working on catfish boxes for the hand grabbing season. If you are a regular, you will remember that pic of the big catfish last year. If you did not see it, it is very impressive. Go to older posts and look. September 17, 2007 He goes back to school this weekend to finish his degrees. There are two courses he can take to get a 2nd degree, and he decided to do that before he leaves and gets a job. He will be gone for 3 weeks. It looks like he may have a lead on a job. The place he had thought about applying to is laying off people, not in his field, but still it made him uncertain about the future, so he is going a different route. I hope it works out for him. His idea is really a good one.

The card above was so much fun to make. I love paper piercing. It takes a lot of time, but I am truely addicted to it. The cardstock and designer paper came in my new monthly kit from Paper Posies. The designer paper and the chipboard letter are from Prima Marketing-Just Corina, the Dude Collection. The stamped image is from Stampin Bella-Ipodabella. The "HAPPY" stamp is one I won at a Stampin Up home party years ago. I believe it was the first time I was introduced to stamping. The ribbon is from my personal stash. I plan on stampin this a.m., and going to pottery this afternoon, so maybe I will have some new projects tomorrow. Ya'll have a great day. Be safe, hug your loved ones, , and God bless ya'll. See ya later!!

Birthday Card

2008-05-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

This card was a fun project. I used the paper piercing technique. This is somewhat time consuming, but I love doing it. The stamps are from Pink Cat Studio, the ribbon is from American Crafts Elements, the card stock and designer paper is from Ki Memories-the surprise edition.

I would like to start showcasing new blogs. Today I want to mention 2 that are just getting started. The first is by Nicky http://www.creationsbynicky.blogspot.com/ She has some great cards already on her blog. Go take a look at tell her what a great job she is doing. The other is by Jaqueline http://sparklescharmsandbows.blogspot.com/ She has some great artwork and neat family photos. Both of these ladies are doing wonderful and I know they would love some comments and encouragements.

I said a while back that I was going to start Sunday Encouragements. Well this week it is going to be on Tuesday. I received this from a friend a while back and I loved it and wanted to share:
Life Is a Gift
Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak. Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat. Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion. Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven. Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren. Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.

I hope you have had a wonderful day filled with many blessings. Take card, hug your loved ones, be safe, and may God bless ya'll!!!

Hope

2008-05-26T08:30:00.001-07:00

Today is a day to reflect on our lives and to take honor in the lives of all the sodiers that have defended our country. Freedom is a gift, and one that has cost this world greatly. The lives of men and women that have been lost and are still being lost daily should always be remembered, not just today. These brave, young people are the reason you and I can sleep at night, and have the freedoms that we do. I have been fortunate to not have lost a family member to any war. My grandfather, father, and other family members have fought in wars, but by the grace of God they have all come home. The families of all soldiers should be remembered, because they are rocks. I cannot imagine one of my children being off at war. I am proud to be an American, and proud to be a brother or sister to each and everyone that has made this country proud. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL OUR SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!

I am planning to cook out this afternoon. Barbeque, potato salad, beans all the bad stuff. Heard this am on the news that an average plate of the above would run about 2000 calories---well, I just cannot go through Memorial Day without a cookout. The big kids are going to the lake with friends. They will be in dark thirty with usually an extra or two. Jack and Simon are going to the pool. They will be back around 5. It will be me ,the cats and dogs home cooking, which is just the way I like it. I hope ya'll enjoy your holiday. Hug your loved ones, and remember those whose loved ones are not here.

The cardstock, designer paper, stamp, ribbon are all from Papertrey Ink. I love there stuff. The saying is from the Hope and Peace stamp set by Stampin Up. Take care and God bless ya'll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beate and Taylor's Challenge's

2008-05-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

These are the other two challenges I have done this weekend. This first is Beate's http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ The cardstock is from Paper Posies and the designer paper is form Scenic Route. The baubles are from Stampin Bella. The stamped image is from the Peace and Comfort set by Stampin Up. The ribbon is from my stash. It is challenge WSC49 on SCS.

The second photo is for Taylor's challenge. It is her weekly Friday Cupcake challenge http://www.tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/ The cardstock/designer paper is from CTMH. The stamped images are from several different stamped sets, the girl is from CTMH's Sleepover, the cupcake is from SweetnSassy's Chocoholic, and the saying is from Hanna Stamps. Everything is colored with CTMH markers, and I used glitter and stickles for embellishments. This challenge is TECC17 on SCS.

Quiet on the homefront today. Everyone great here. I plan on spending the entire day cooking for tomorrow and stamping. May not get out of my pj's. Enjoy time with your family and take care of yourself!! Hug your loved ones and my God bless ya'll!!!

Jen's Sketch Challenge

2008-05-25T07:27:00.001-07:00

Jen at http://www.iheart2stamp.com/ gave a sketch challenge Friday. Go see!! She is such an inspiration with her work. This is the card I did. The cardstock and designer paper is from Lil Red Scrapbook Co. http://www.littleredscrapbook.com/ They have great monthly kits. The stamped images are from Stampin Up-Very Punny, and the saying is from this set but printed on the computer. The baubles are from Stampin Bella, and the ribbon/threads are from my unknown random stash. Unknown as to where it came from. I tried to download to SCS, but I can only get it to go to my gallery. Again just starting to get the hang of this computer stuff. I will be posting later in the day some more weekend challenges I have done. Take care of yourself, hug those you love, and be safe. God bless ya'll!!!

Unknown Challenge

2008-05-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

This is the card I made for a Wednesday Challenge on SCS, but I cannot remember the challenge number. Crazy me!! I have been working all day on challenges thinking it might get me back into the card making. I did 4 and I will post them throughout the holiday weekend. For this one I used cardstock and designer paper from CTMH. The dp is discontinued, but I had some scraps left over from kit. The stamped images are from 2 different companies. The girl is from Hanna Stamps. I paper-pierced the image with paper from the kit. The saying is from Studio G stamps. The ribbon is from my stash of unknowns. See ya later!! God bless ya'll!!

Inchie Challenge

2008-05-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Boy, have I been slacking on blogging lately!!! I am going to get better!! I AM!!!! I AM!!!! I AM!!! School is out for little one and middle one. Big one gets out in about 3 weeks. Things should slow down. I have been spending most of my downtime lately cleaning and working in the yard. I did get my paper crafting mojo going this week some. The pics are from an inchie challenge I was given from Nina Perrin at Purple Faerie Blog http://purplefaeriepc.blogspot.com/ I am a member of her challenge team and there is some great work over there. You should take a peek! The cardstock is from a monthly kit I get from Paper Posies. http://www.paperposies.com/ The designer paper is from cherryArte. The brads are random from my stash, and the stamps are from My Favorite Things http://www.mftstamps.com/home/homepage.html It is called Can Ya Dig It. We were to make 3-7 inches--if you do not know what they are, they are squares, circles, or whatever shape that can be no larger than 1 inch. You create on this inch an item that can be used on larger projects as embellishments. The second part of our challenge was to use these in a project, which leads to the last pic. The tin is from Creative Express and the papers are the same. The stamped images were colored with CTMH markers.

I have had a very bad week with internet people. I belong to several yahoo groups, and unfortunately I belong to one that does not follow there name. I am not going to slam them by name, but I will say that there name is _____________friends, but that is not who they really are. I am not a great internet-computer user. I work most of my waking hours, so when I do come home , I like to read and see creations by people who have more time to create than I do. Unfortunately this week, someone had some extra things on this group they wanted to sell, and I needed what they were selling. I hit reply and not paying attention as well as some of these people seemed to think I should, the reply went to the group instead of the individual. This caused a major uproar. I did not respond because I was so mad at what they said to me and the other person involved. I thought these groups were for friends to share things. I do understand that some times 15 people reply to the same comment and it does get a little tiring reading the same things over and over, but me for one--remember a not so computer savy person--has enough sense to delete those repititions. I swear it does not cause calluses on your fingertips to hit the delete buttons. Now, I feel better!! I have decided to delete that group from my list, and only hang out with real friends.

Sorry for the soapbox, but it really hurt my feelings to see the things that were said. I hope ya'll have a great holiday weekend. Be safe and healthy!! God bless ya'll!!!!

2008-04-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

How is everyone? We are fine and dandy. The school year is coming to a close, and dreams are coming true. My oldest called me tonight to tell me he finished his Management Finance course today. It has really been giving him a hard time, but it looks like he will come out great. He has really had to study hard this semester, but he will graduate from Mississippi State in a few weeks and I am so proud of him. He is going to graduate with two degrees!!! Whoo Hoo!!!! My daughter got her acceptance letter Saturday for an externship at our hospital this summer. She is finishing up her second semester of nursing school, and she has done great!!! I confirmed our vacation plans for this summer today. I cannot wait. We always go to Florida for a week. Fun in the sun. We will go in late summer, same time we go every year.

The card above is one I made last week. The CS and DP are from Heidi Grace. The stamp is from Everyday Blessings by Papertrey Ink. The brads are also from Heidi Grace. The flower was made with the Stampin Up flower punch. The baubles are "goldfish" from Stampin Bella. The scalloped punch is by Marvy, and I would not have it if it wasn't for my great bella sistah Leanne. I hope ya'll have a great day, and may God bless all!! Take care and I will be back soon.

Sunshine

2008-04-16T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is fine. I have come down with a cold. Really have felt yucky the past 2 days, but I started on some medicine last night. I hope it kicks in soon!! The weather is beautiful. We have had so much rain lately, that it is a blessing to see the sunshine. This card is one I made from some old paper I found while cleaning my craft room. The cardstock and designer paper are from SEI--Winnies Walls; the buttons are also from this same collection; the stamp is from Verve Visual--Serenity: the ribbon is from American Crafts Elements. I love these colors. Got to go get ready for work. Everyone have a great day and God bless ya'll!!!

I'm Back!!!!

2008-04-13T14:48:00.001-07:00

HEY YA'LL!!!! I did not turn 51 and disappear! Life has been crazy. All the family is fine, and we are living life to the fullest. All the things that have kept me from blogging are just to many to go into. Do know though, they have all been good. The one thing I will go into is that my youngest was baptized on Easter Sunday. It was awesome!!

I cannot wait to get back into posting and card making. The card above is for Jen's card sketch at http://www.iheart2stamp.com/. She does one every weekend and they are so much fun. This card is made with cardstock and designer paper from my newest packet from Paper Posies. The designer paper is from Pink Paislee www.pinkpaislee.com It is the Spring Fling Collection. All the stamps are from My Favorite Things --The Happy Mothers Day set www.mftstamps.com The ribbon and brad are from my stash.

Today's encouragemint is quite simple:

“To excel is to reach your own highest dreams, but you must also help others, when you can, to reach theirs. Personal gain is empty if you do not feel you have positively touched another’s life.” - Barbara Walters.

I hope I have touched lives along the way. It is really easy to do this. Sometimes it is something powerful, and other times it is just a smile. Let's try this week to touch lives. I would love to hear about them. I will be back soon. Ya'll take care and may God bless ya'll!!

What A Great Day!!!!!!!!

2008-01-16T16:52:00.001-08:00

It has been an overwhelming day for me. Tomorrow is my birthday, and I did not know I had so many friends. First I received some stamped images, brads and eyelets from Jennifer. She made me the cutest card. Next, I got a $20.00 gift certificate to Stampin Bella, a scalloped circle punch (which I have been dying to get), and some neat paper and cardstock from LeAnne (my bella sister). She also made me a beautiful card. Then the florist called and my best friend (who now lives in Atlanta) sent me some bath gel and a candle. My kids got me a double boiler (mine has come up missing) and a wind chime. Last, a friend stopped by from work and gave me some more bath gel. This has benn the best day, I have had in a long while.

The bag tag above is something I made for a challenge, but now that I have submitted it, it is going in the mail tomorrow for someone for a RAK. Everything on the bag tag is from my stash, and most are scraps except the brayered paper that is layered over the cardstock. I have the best time making these, and on the back is the name or initial of who gets it. I will post the cards from my friends tomorrow on my post. hope ya'll are fine, and may God bless all!!!

Encouragemints

2008-01-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a little card I made for a friend. She needed something she could have and send for any occasion plus thank you's. I cased this card from Brenda Harmless at Inked Art. Everything is CTMH except the ribbon, and it is from Stampin Up. This is a very quick and easy card to make. The paper and cardstock are from the "Life's Delights" paper packet, the stamped letter is from the "Baroque Alphabet" set. I used my corner rounder to scallop the edges of the strip of chocolate cardstock.

Today's encouragemint is:

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Swiss psychiatrist, author (1926-2004)

I believe we all have a light from within, although sometimes we let it dim. I myself have decided this year to let my light shine, and hope that I can encourage others to do the same by my actions. Enjoy your week and my God bless ya'll!!!

Janmuary Bella Babe Entry & I'm Tagged

2008-01-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

This was my entry in the January Bella Babe contest on Bellaholicsanonymouse on Yahoo this month. The challenge was to use red, grey or black, and white. I used artistabella from Stampin Bella and random paper scraps I had from other projects. I combined two different ribbons from my stash and started layering. Thflowers are also some I had in my stash. Sorry, but all this is scraps, and I do not know where they came from. I paper pierced the clothes, and colored the rest with my CTMH markers. The brads are from CTMH.

I have been tagged by Heidi from Heartfelt Blessings. Here is the questionaire I am to fill out:
1. Name your 2 favorite Scrapbooking topics: My children are number 1, and the kids on the pages I do for others would be #2.
2. What are the 2 best places you've been to? Destin, Florida--the prettiest beaches I have ever seen, and Washington, D. C.--went there with Carre, aka middle child, on a school trip when she was in the 8th grade
3. Name 2 things you do every day: try to talk to each of my kids and make sure they are ok, and one of my cats and I drink coffee each morning with him in my lap while I check my email.
4. Name 2 things that pretty much everyone knows about you: My family is #1 in my life, and I love helping others.
5. What are your 2 favorite stores? at this moment in my like, Stampin Bella and My Favorite Things stamps
6. What are your 2 favorite accessories to stamp/scrap with? Ribbon, and flowers
7. What are your two favorite occasions to make cards for?Friendship and happies just to make someone smile.
8. What two things do alot of people NOT know about me? I cry when I get mad and them I get madder at myself and cry more; #2- I really do not have anything else--I am me everyday of my life, no holding back, and if you see or talk with me today, tomorrow that same person will be there.
I am supposed to tag two people: let's see--------Lynn Put of the Queen's Scene http://thequeensscene.blogspot.com and Jennifer Hodge
http://craftyfingers.typepad.com/

Ya'll have a blessed day and I will see ya tomorrow!!!!

New Year

2008-01-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

My new year began with a lot of work. I was on call 5 out of the six days prior to and on New Years Day. It will lead to a nice paycheck, but it was tiring. I have taken this weekend to recover and get back to normal. I started finally painting Simon's room, and should finish most of it today. My creative juices started flowing last night and I finally did some stamping and card making. I looked up a lot of the challenges that have come out for this month, and started working. I love challenges, because it makes my brain work. I have decided to start a new years tradition on the blog. I belong to a yahoo group called CraftersforChrist and one of the ladies does a daily post of encourgemints. These are quotes and sayings that lift up your spirits, sometimes when you do not even know they are down. I have decided to start a Weekly Encouragemint here. Every Sunday I will add a quote or saying that I feel has given me encouragement this week.

Today's Encouragemint is:

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone." -- Audrey Hepburn, Adacemnt Award winning actress, humanitarian

Sometimes I feel that I get frustated with people, and give up on them. I am experiencing this at work now with a new person. I forget to look deep into someone's personality. There is always good somewhere, you just may have to wait---patience!!!!

The card is for the CTMH Friends monthly color challenge on yahoo. The colors were Cranberry, Black and Bamboo. The base of the card is black. The cranberry layer I ran through my Cuttlebug "Stylized Flowers" embossing folder and touched up the raised areas with black ink.. The stamps are done in black on Bamboo paper--the scripture is from the "Come Unto Me" stamp set and the flower is from the "Rustic Flowers" stamp set. The ribbon and button are things from my random stash.

I would also like to thank everyone for all the wonderful cards and happies I received over the last few weeks. I will be posting some later this week. Sorry for the long ramblings, but I wanted to catch up with ya'll. I wish for all a great 2008 filled with many blessings of love, happiness, health, wealth, and joy!!! God bless ya'll!!!!

Family

2007-12-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hope the guy in the big red suit has made his visit. These are photos of my family taken last night when we had our Christmas get together. The first pic is me and Jack. The second pic is me, my daddy, and my kids. I wish ya'll the blessings of the season and love, happiness, health and safety for the future. God is great and his blessings are plentiful. Enjoy your day with family and friends. Take care. Merry Christmas and God bless ya'll!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-24T05:18:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!! The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has kicked in and I have been busy as a bee. My daughter works downtown at a clothing store, and all the young kids who help out during the Christmas rush decided they could not work yesterday or today. The owner is a friend of mine and she was frantic about Carre being the only one there to wrap presents, so I told her I would help out. They were slow yesterday, and I only had to be there about 2 hours, but today will be a different story. I have everything ready to put in the oven today, and hubby will take care of that. I spent Saturday baking and putting together goodie treats for the neighbors. I only have to pick up a few things today at the store downtown, and I am ready.

The card above is an invitation I made for my daughter and her friends dirty Santa party they do every year. I cased the idea from a card I got in a swap. The card was made by Yolanda--sorry but that is all I know of her name. If you read this let me know who you are and I will give you full credit. The dress is colored with red marker from CTMH and red glitter applied. The stamp is Winabella from Stampin Bella, and the cardstock and designer paper are from CTMH and I do not know who made the designer paper. I had gotten it to make paper ornaments, but never did, so when the girls needed these invites, I used it for that.

I want to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope your holidays are filled with many blessings. Be safe, be healthy, be warm and may GOD BLESS YA'LL!!!!!!!

Play it forward

2007-12-17T18:39:00.000-08:00

I participated in a Play it Forward several weeks ago, and I received my "happy" last week. It was these images from Patti

http://hugsnstuff.blogspot.com/

The object of the game is to keep "happies" going all around. It is now my turn to offer a play it forward. If you would like to participate, leave a comment. I will pick 3 names and I will send each of you a "happie". You in turn will offer it on your blog and you will have to send to those wanting to play. It is really fun, and I hope I get some good participation. It can be anything, images, ribbon, paper, embellishments, whatever you would like. Hope to hear from you soon. God bless ya'll.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2007-12-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!! My little one had his 3rd grade play last night and he was Santa. These are some of the fun pictures from the night. The first one is him in his suit. The school supplied the suit, but it fit me. I had to make it fit him. I made him a bolster out of pillows that he could slide on and off. When he got to school for the morning performance, he could not fit in his desk. Check out those bare feet. It was 70 degrees here that morning and he was so hot, but he was a real trooper and did not fuss. He did wear shoes in the play. He looks like he has been squished in a compactor, and made into a miniature Santa. The next pic is an upclose of his face. I love the glasses. The last is him with his elf ( had several elves at first, but they would not learn their parts, so the music teacher fired them, he said) and his reindeer. It was a great play and the kids did wonderful. The title was "40 Winks for Christmas."

Now I can finish my shopping and start cooking. It has really been a hectic week, but the weekend should be calmer. The big kids are out of school, and everyone did wonderful with their grades. We have 1 semester of nursing school down and boy am I glad. Little buddie gets out Tuesday. Mu oldest is home for the holidays and he and Carre's boyfriend are heavy into hunting. We are going out to eat and celebrate exams being over with my daughter in a little while, so I guess I better go for now. I will see ya tomorrow with some cards I am finishing as gifts sets for teachers and friends. Take care and God bless ya'll!!

I've been tagged!

2007-12-11T17:53:00.001-08:00

This card is the one I submitted to the only challenge I had time to do at the Bella Ball. It was challenge BB-7 given by Gina K. The sketch is great. I have done two other cards with this sketch since then. The card stock is from my stash, but the designer paper is from DaisyD's. The stamp is Huggiebella from Stampin Bella, and I understand Em has some new things on her blog, go see. The sentiment is from one of my MFT stamps, and the crotched flower is from Imaginisce. I love this paper!!! My best friend from highschool has remarried and moved to Atlanta and this weekend she and her new husband came home to her parents. They gave them a wedding reception at the country club and after it was over, we all went out for dinner. It was just the 4 of us and we had a blast. He is really nice and if anyone deserves a nice life, it is her. Get ready for this----he has to travel abroad sometimes with his job, so she went with him to Amsterdam, and on the way home, they stopped in Paris and got married!!!! I made this card to send to her telling her what fun we had!!

I was checking my mail a little while ago, and I have been tagged by Tangi http://tangerinesdreamcreations.blogspot.com/. She has a great blog and some wonderful creations. Ok, 7 things about myself:
1. I am an only child.
2. Tangi, I locked my keys in the car one time with my 15 month old in the car!! I got out to run in the beauty shop for a quick second, and automatically locked the doors. We did not have AAA then, and I had to get my husband to leave work and bring an extra set of keys. BIG TROUBLE!!!!
3. I love country music.
4. I love paper piercing, especially the clothes on the Bellas.
5. I plan on semi retiring from nursing as soon as I get my big kids out of college. I want to only work 2-3 days a week and the other time I want to spend it playing with my paper products and making my pottery. I make pottery, but I have not done much lately. Here is a link to my blog if anyone wants to look http://roughedgespottery.blogspot.com/
6. I spend a week in Florida every summer with my kids. We love Destin.
7. My kids are 22 y/o, 20 y/o and 9 y/o. I had a little surprise package
that keeps my young. I delivered at 41!!! All healthy and he is an absolute angel.
I think at this point I am to tag some others, so here it goes. I tag
1. Dawn Easton http://treasureoilerdesignz.blogspot.com/
2. Carol Weimer http://papersnob.blogspot.com/
3. Michelle http://www.bellakittycreations.blogspot.com/
4. Nancy Morgan http://papersmiles.blogspot.com/
Hope you ladies have fun with this, and I will be checking to see what your answers are. Have a great evening and God bless ya'll.

Jen's Sketch Challenge

2007-12-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

I tried Jen del Muro's sketch challenge http://www.iheart2stamp.com/ for the first time and this is my submission. The CS, DP, elements and ribbon are from my monthly kit from Paper Posies http://www.paperposies.com/. The DP is made by 7gypsies. The stamps are from Sweet and Sassy Stamps by Korin Sutherland. These are new and she has some great stuff over there. If you have not visited her new store, then go and try this link: http://sweetnsassystamps.com/. I am fairly new to all these challenges, but I believe I am going to get addicted soon. These are great for ideas and it seems to get my creative juices going. I am on card 4 for this a.m.!!!!

Just a quick note to say I hope everyone is fine and their weekend has been blessed. Mine has and I will be talking about that later. Enjoy your day and God bless ya'll!!

Bag Tags

2007-12-04T19:13:00.001-08:00

Well, I have not disappeared off the face of the earth. My surgery took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. I spent the rest of last week lying around basically doing nothing. I did make this tag for a friends little girl though. They are getting a surprise trip to Disney World from Santa, and she wanted luggage tags for the kids. This one is for her 3 y/o. All the cs and dp are from Close To My Heart. The little girls clothes are paper pierced, even her bow!! The eyelets are CTMH and the ribbon is from my stash, unknown sources. I cut the initials out with my Sizzix.

I received notice this weekend that my card I did for the monthly CTMHfriends group on yahoo won. It is the O Come Let Us Adore Him card that it on a earlier post. It won the sketch challenge. There were some awesome cards done last month, and I want to congratulate everyone for doing such great work. There are really some gals on there with some wonderful talent. I hope ya'll are doing fine. Quiet here on the homefront. School is winding down for all and I think I will be as excited as they are when Christmas break arrives. I better get some rest. I went back to work today, and I am really exhausted. Take care and may God bless ya'll. See ya soon here on the blog.

SIYJ-November

2007-11-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Last night was the monthly SIYJ over at Paper Pretties

http://www.paperpretties.net/ This is the first time I have participated in the event and I loved it. You are given a new challenge every hour for 3 hours, and this is my entry for the sketch challenge. It was really fun. The stamp and sentiment are from My Favorite Things--www.mftstamps.com--the card stock and designer paper are from daisyd's. I do not have a scalloped punch of anykind and the challenge called for one, so I took the base off my corner rounder and scalloped the edges of the base of the stamp. I paper pierced the clothes and used some buttons I had from my stash. The other part of the challenge was to have stamped images on the side. I stamped them on CS and cut them out. It was a quicky, but I liked the way it turned out. If I had more time, I would have put some type of thread on the buttons.

This has been a weird week. My mammogram came back abnormal, and I had a breast biopsy Monday. I received the pathology results today and it is ok. It was fibercystic disease. I am really sore today, but I think I will feel better tomorrow. It has really made me think with breast cancer awareness month recently, and I plan on taking better care of myself. I am always telling others how they should take care of themselves and putting myself on the back burner. Not anymore. This gave me a scare. Hope ya'll are well and having a good week. Take care and God bless ya'll. See ya later in the week.

Life Moments

2007-11-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful life moment today, and I needed it worse than you can ever imagine. We had a very light day at work today and we only ran the call teams. The house supervisor called for a 2nd tech to come to OB and help with a stat c-section. I did not have one available, so I went upstairs to see what was going on. When I walked in the door, the physician on call said she had a woman in labor and the baby had gotten into distress and we had to go now. She said , you know how to scrub, come on and I did without even thinking. I have not scrubbed a c-section in years, and really only scrubbed to assist a few times in the past 10 years!! We delivered a big, healthy baby boy in about 12 minutes. It was cool!!! Mom was awake and she was great. She was thanking everyone for doing things so fast and helping her. It was a life moment for sure.

In honor of this little one, I posted this card. I did this several weeks ago for a challenge, but was waiting closer to Christmas to post it. I think today is the perfect day for it. The entire card is from the Everlasting paper packet from Close to My Heart. The other item on the card that is not CTMH are the baubles from Stampin Bella. The stamp and sentiments are in the Let Us Adore Him set. The sentiment on the inside of the card that you can barely see in the bottom right corner is the scripture Luke 2:12. The colors used are Cranberry, Ponderosa Pine, and Desert Sand. I hope ya'll have moments like this in your life. Take care and God bless ya'll!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-22T08:26:00.001-08:00

I would like to wish ya'll a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving. I hope your day is filled with love and happiness with family and friends. I have been cooking all morning and this is my first break. We plan on eating with my sister-in-law at 1 and with my family here at 6 tonight. I am on call, but so far things are quiet. It is a crisp cool day her. The temperature dropped 24 degrees over night after a cold front came through. The ground is wet, but it is a beautiful day.

The card above is one I made for one of my daughter's friends 21st birthday. The inside says Happy 21st Birthday in black glitter letters. The cs and background paper are from my random stock. The bella is presentabella, and she is paper pierced with some of the random paper I have. The ribbon and flower are scraps and left overs from previous creations. Just a quick throw together, and not very Thanksgiving, but I thought you might enjoy. Have a great day and God bless ya'll.

Bella with a Twist

2007-11-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

I was in a swap called Bella/Fella with a twist. You were to take a bella or a fella and do a Christmas card. It was supposed to have a twist to it instead of being completely traditional. This is my version. I used CTMH paper packet-More to Adore with pink big brads. I used brown baubles as an accent. The ribbon is also from CTMH. I embossed the brown cs with my snowflake pattern in my Cuttlebug. I received my package this week and all the cards were great. Thanks to Shannon for getting this together, and to Venlanda, Ami, Korin, Cris, and Susan. I love all of the cards. This was a great swap.

It is raining here and pretty yucky. It has rained almost all day. I think the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow. I spent most of the day the cooking things the kids and hubby could snack on the rest of the week. They are all home for the holiday week. I started thawing my turkey in the fridge today. I am going to start cooking Tuesday for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great week and ya'll are blessed with family and friends for the holiday. I will see ya later on the blog. God bless ya'll!!!!

I Won!!!

2007-11-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! I won a blog candy!! Susie at
http://susiestampalot.blogspot.com/ emailed me today to let me know I won her blog candy. Isn't that just great??? Go take a look see. It is really some good stuff. She has a great blog, and I really admire her style. I am so CRAZY though, I emailed her back and never included my address!! I just talked back to her and explained my stupidness. I have been on call a lot this week at work and worked late some of the days I was not on call and I am really sleep deprived. I am going to bed early tonight, and maybe I will be back to normal tomorrow. I am so happy to win this candy. I kind of consider it my 1st Christmas present--Oh and by the way if you have not realized Christmas is 37 days away!!!! Take care and God bless ya'll!!!!

Boy Scout Treats

2007-11-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll!! I cannot believe it has been a week since I have been on the blog. Busy! Busy! Busy! My friend I help with scouts, called Sunday night (when I was in bed and almost asleep) and said we where having a meeting on Monday and she needed me to come up with a happy for the kids to take to the nursing home on December 6th to give the residents.

She also would like for me to bring an example to the meeting Monday so the other den leaders could see it. (I love her, but she does not work and thinks I don't either apparently) When I got off work Monday I threw this together and they loved it. I got the idea from Dawn Griffith's blog

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stamping_thoughts/

I am going to stamp some different images and let the kids color them and place them on the candy holder and decorate. We have to make 63. Thankfully I have til December 3rd to get everything stamped, cutout and ready. She is buying the candy and helping me cut the bases out. Anyway the cardstock is from the Close to My Heart-Everlasting Paper Packet, along with the background paper (designer paper). The stamp is from Elzybells, as well as the sentiment. The instructions are:

Cut a piece of cardstock 3 1/4 x 9 5/8. Score at 3, 3 3/8, 6 3/8, 6 3/4. The 3 inch side is the front. Punch 1 3/8 square centered in the other end for your card stock---I used a circle punch. Use adhesive to secure this flap so it will not come undone. Peppermint Patties look great and fit well, but I just had this piece of candy as an example. They are really easy to make. Then you just decorate as you want.

Hope ya'll have been fine. You can tell the holidays are close. My schedule is getting pretty hectic. The kids are all out for Thanksgiving Break. Oldest son hunting, daughter working, and little buddie just enjoying life. My husband is going to be home all week. I am not sure what we are actually doing on Thanksgiving yet. My daddy usually hunts, as well as my boys, and we don't eat until supper. I talked to Jack's sister last night and she does not know what they are going to do. Normally we eat with them at lunch at my mother-in-laws, but she had not thought about it. Unfortunately she waits til the last minute on everything, and I cannot do that. I am going to make our plans and I hope it all works out for everyone. Another thing that puts a kink in everything is that I am on call and cannot get farther than 30 minutes from the hospital. I am sure it will be a blessed day anyway we do it. My family wants me to do a non-traditional meal. They want roast and gravy with mashed potatoes and some other veggies. Banana pudding is the requested dessert for one, cheesecake for another, and anything chocolate for the other. Yep, we are a very diverse family. At least they agree on the main meal, but I like turkey!!! I will probably just cook a turkey breast to go along with the roast. Ok, gotta go. Ole Miss is playing LSU on the tube. We were supposed to go, but decided to stay home and watch on tv. Ya'll have a blessed day and remember to pray for those less fortunate than us, that they will have a blessed Thanksgiving with their families. Also pray for our troops and their families, and hope this will be the last time they will have to spend it apart. God bless ya'll!!

Cosmobella-Brown-Green

2007-11-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a little bella I put together the other day. I plan on sending it out Monday as a RAK to someone special. The cardstock and background paper are from some I had here--do not know the manufacturer. The ribbon is from my stash--All of this came from my scrap stash-paper, cardstock and ribbon. The stamp is cosmobella and the brads are the bigger brads from CTMH. I used my corner rounder and removed the guard to scallop the edges on the top of the card. As usual, I paper pierced the clothes. Does she look like she has been designer dressed or not????

Well, I am still feeling pretty yukey. I hope tomorrow will be better. I have got to get better soon, because this is not me--I hate to sit around and do nothing. I did venture to Wally World (Walmart) today and bought the kids some new play station tapes they had been wanting. Guitar Hero and Backyard Football. All my children and boyfriend have been in my little one's room since we got the tapes. They are really fun. Thanks goodness I cooked a large supper because I was not expecting all for supper. Ya'll take care and I will see ya later. God bless ya'll!!!

See no evil; Hear no evil; Speak no evil--Merry Christmas

2007-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I am feeling some better, but not great. I did not go to work today and I really think that is why I feel better. I took time to make this card today. Recently got this stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas. The little penguins are one stamp and I cut them seperately for this card. The paper and cardstock are from CTMH. The sentiment is also in this stamp set. I used my circle punch from Stampin Up and pop dotted the penguins to them. The eyelets are Clover Meadow from CTMH that matches the cardstock. The ribbon is some I have had for sometime--no idea where it came from. Love those penguins!! Take care and have a great night. God bless ya'll!!

Good Friends, Good Wine, Good Times

2007-11-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

I love the MFT stamps. This card is made with scrap cardstock and background paper I have in my stash. The flowers are from Prima Marketing and the brads are some I got in a swap. The clear baubles are also from a swap. Sorry, I cannot remember who the paper is made by, but I wish I had some more.

Today was a really crummy day. First, I have a terrible cold--my head feels like it is going to burst open. Next, people at work are jerks!! I had a case I was trying to get going this am and everyone was just standing around. I told them to get going because we had a time line to be on and they blew me out of the water and acted like it was my fault because I expected them to work on time. Real jerks!!!! I think I will get in the bed and see if rest will make me feel better. See ya'll tomorrow!! Oh, we did ok on the test!! God Bless Ya'll!!!

Bella Luggage Tag

2007-11-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

This is a luggage tag I sent someone as a RAK this week. I used cosmobella and paper pierced the clothes from the Close to My Heart More to Adore paper packet. The background paper is also from this paper pack and the "S" is from the CTMH Solo S stamp set. The eyelets are from CTMH as well as some of the ribbons. I have made several of these lately and really am having fun with them.

Daughter has big test tomorrow so please add her to your prayers tonight. She is doing great in school, but this is a major stepping stone in the nursing process and she is very nervous. All is well with the rest of us. Had my yearly mammogram yesterday and things look ok. I have a spot they have been watching for 9 years, and it has changed a little, but really smaller. I have looked with the tech at the x-rays every time I have one and it is a strange little thing. I cannot feel it, but it is there. I should get the doctors report later this week. Please add me to your prayer list also.

It turned off cold here today. We have a possibility of a freeze tonight. I cranked up the heater and we are toasty and comfy now. I did have to go buy some sweatshirts, long pants, and a school coat for Simon. They wear uniforms, and this year they even included the outerwear as a requirement. We could always wear our regular coats, but this year they changed to that once you were on school propery, you had to have school regulated coats. Kind of crazy, but I really like the uniform idea. It has saved me a lot of money. Well I guess I better get going for tonight. Take care and God bless ya'll!!!

Bella Babe Entry

2007-11-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is my entry in the Bella Babe Challenge on Bellaholics Anonymous Yahoo group. The cardstock and background paper are from cherryArte. The stamped image and sentiment are from Stampin Bella. The ribbon is some I had and the brads are from CTMH. The flowers are a RAK I received. The button is from S.E. I. and the fibers are from Adornments. I used my CTMH markers to color what I did not paper pierce. The flower brad is from Picture Perfect Scrapbook Co.

Hope ya'll are well and your weekend has been great. I am heading to bed soon. Stayed up too late yesterday working on cards. Take care and God bess ya'll.

Criss Cross Card 2

2007-11-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

What a week!! I have been on call 4 out of 6 days!! Today I never got out of my pajamas. I spent the whole day making cards. This is one I made using the criss cross card pattern. These are really fun. I have seen some cute Christmas cards done this way. This cardstock and background paper are from Chatterbox--Scrapbook Walls Collection. The ribbon is from my stash--it was a scrap. The brads are Frills from Queen and Co. The prima flowers were a RAK from Kristine Reynolds for winning a weekly challenge at Paper Pretties. The fibers are from EK Success and the buttons are from S.E.I.--Winnie's Walls. The sentiment is from CTMH and the image is pmsabella from Stampin Bella. You can't tell from the picture but I put crystal effects on the popcorn.

I have had a great honor given to me this week. I have been asked by Nina Perrin http://purplefaeriepc.blogspot.com/ to be on her challenge team for her new store she plans on launching at the first of the year. I hope I can give her the quality work she wants. This is all new to me and I get kind of dumb sometimes with this online lingo and computer life. I am not a good computer person. I have got to learn all the ins and outs of this stuff. I have not been able to send her back my Bio Sheet because this crazy computer will not let me--probably the operator of this computer is the biggest problem. Anyway, I wanted to share my good news with ya'll.

All the kids are fine and doing well. Hubby is home and doing fine also. All the animals are great--I don't know if I have mentioned them much. I will have to post pics. Hope ya'll had a great Halloween. Little one went to a hayride with friends. I stayed home and did the trick or treaters thing. We have a yearly haunted house down the street from us and I bet we had 200-300 people come by. It was unbelievable!! I ran out of candy, even after I started giving only one piece at a time. I thought if I cut back on the amount I would make it, but that was not true. Simon came home from school and told me he was not wearing a costume, just dressing dark because they were going to roll yards with his friends big brother. I made him wear his camoflauge and go as a hunter. We ditched the Ninja costume I had gotten him. I called the little boys mom and she said she was only going to let them roll one of the big brothers friends yards who knew and said it would be ok. Well, the big brother bailed out on them and when the hayride was over they came to the haunted house down the street. They do this every year, and I pick up Simon at this point. They came running up to my house and told me they did not get to roll, so I took 8 of them to Carre's house around the corner and we rolled her yard. They did a great job, and then the next day Simon and a few of his friends cleaned it up. It was a good Halloween!! Sorry I am a little long winded today, but I have not been on lately so I had to catch up with ya'll. Take care and God bless ya'll.

Smile!

2007-10-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

I had a little extra time last night and I threw this card together. I just got this bella stamp a few weeks ago, and I have been wanting to work with it. The card base and background paper is from the Life Delights paper packet from Close to my Heart. This ribbon is random from my sack of ribbons. The sentiment is also from CTMH-Playful Petals, and we all know the stamp is Huggiebella from StampinBella. Hope you enjoy!!

High Hopes Stamps

2007-10-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

I saw this stamp while blogging the other day and fell in love with it. The company is High Hopes http://www.highhopesstamps.com/ and their products are precious. They have some really cute Christmas stamps.

Everything on this card is from my scrap stash. The sentiment is also from High Hopes.

Another week has come to a close. Can you believe it is only 59 days until Christmas? This year seems to fly. Hope everyone has had a great week and have big plans for the weekend. I am on call all weekend, and we are supposed to go to two costume parties tomorrow. I am not real sure we will make anything due to work. Tonight is the last home football game. I traded out with one of my good friends--if she will take my little one and hers to the game (she was already going for her older kids) I would let them spend the night here. DEAL!!!! I really cannot take a chance of getting caught in the traffic if I have to go in the hospital, so I try not to go to ballgames on those nights. Better go and get them ready for the game. Have a nice and safe weekend! God bless ya'll!!

Sockafellabella

2007-10-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is going out in the mail tomorrow as a RAK. The stamp is sockafellabella and it is paper pierced with some random paper scraps I had. The brads are from my stash---have no idea where they came from and so is the ribbon. The leaves in the stocking are covered with green glitter from CTMH and the holly bolls are mini pom poms. The card stock and background paper is from CTMH and the sentiment stamp is something I got this week from The Cat's Pajamas http://www.thecatspajamasrs.com/ Really cute stamps!! Take a look if you haven't been there before. I used my snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder for the cardstock under the stmped image.

Wow!! I heard from Kristine today at PaperPretties yahoo group and I won this weeks sewing challenge. I am having so much fun with these challenges. The post prior to this one has the card I submitted. Every Monday they give out a challenge and you have until Sunday to submit it. This coming Monday they are having a Stampin in Your Jammies on the yahoo group. I have never been involved in one of these, but everything I read sounds like they have a great time. Mondays are kind of bad for me sometimes due to time, homework, soccer, and work, but I am really going to try and be involved. I will let you know how it turns out.

Ok, I hardly ever get into politics or controversial issues on here, BUT-------
The World Series is another story. GO BOSTON REDSOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's it. Time to go watch the game. God bless ya'll!!!

Weekly challenge card--Sewing

2007-10-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

I did this card for the weekly challenge on Paper Pretties. This week it was a sew challenge. This card stock and background paper are from a kit I have had for some time. The ribbon is from my stash. The stamps are: the girls are from My Favorite Things--Think Pink; the sentiment is from Celebrate Life from CTMH; and the faux stitchings are from Simple Stitches by CTMH. I took my corner rounder and scalloped the edges of the under layer cardstock. Again as usual the clothes on the girls are paper pierced. I just cannot color lately.

We have had a great week and I hope you have also. Oldest son had a mid term and another huge test this week at Mississippi State--2nd highest grade on both tests. YOU GO BOY!!!! Has just about decided to finish in May instead of graduate in December. This way he will have two degrees--one in marketing and one in real estate. They had a tornado this week right off campus. Thank God I did not know until it was all over. He was at his house and they sent out a code maroon to all students--this means if you are in class stay there; if you are on campus get to a safe shelter, and if you are off campus stay put. No one was hurt, what a blessing!! Daughter had her first real patient in clinical. She really had a great time and apparently did real well. Her mid term grades are good also. Unfortunately over half of her class is on academic probation. Her friends that are in class with her are also doing well, but one is on probation. She has started studying with Carre to hopefully help her understand better. Last, but not least little buddie had straight A's on his report card. I am so proud of all my children!! I have never really had to worry about their grades. Sometimes if they were not good, they would double up and do great the next time.

Wishing all a blessed week and please continue to pray for our troops and there families. Remember all those affected by breast cancer and put them in your prayers also. May God bless ya'll!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Card

2007-10-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is a card I did for Breast Cancer Awareness. I just got this stamp set last week. I just love these stamps!! The stamp and saying are from My Favorite Things. The card stock is CTMH and the background paper is from Junkitz the Shabby Chic Collection. The ric rac ribbon is from my stash---could not even begin to remember where that came from. The brads are the large ones from CTMH. The pink ribbons are stamps from the set and I put Crystal Effects on them so the would look like real pins. It is hard to tell in the pic, but they look like pins. They are pop dotted. I hope all have taken care of themselves and gotten your mammograms or had your breast exams this month. I had to cancel mine due to work, but I rescheduled today. This is very important gals!! The only way to beat this thing is to ban together and fight!!! Take care and God bless ya'll!!!

Prayers Needed

2007-10-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

My daughter just called me and we need extra prayers. My older kids grandmother had surgery last week and she is not doing good. She had hiatal hernia surgery 1 week ago today. My ex-husband told me last week the doctor said he had done 400 of these and this was the worst one he had ever done. They tried to give her a sip of some fluids today to see how she did with the swallowing and the fluid leaked into her chest. This has been the worry the entire time because her stomach lining is so thin, they do not know if it will heal. They are going to try again in a few days and if it continues to leak they are going to have to go back in and repeat the surgery and try to fix what they could not last time. She is a great lady and we really need your prayers. Thank you and God bless ya'll!!!

I Won!!!

2007-10-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. I won the weekly challenge at Paper Pretties!! I have so many nice comments sent my way today. I came home from an ok day at work. I was looking for something in the snail mail that did not come, but when I checked my email----there it was---the congratulation mail from Paper Pretties, followed by lots of congratulations from members. A great way to make an ok day fabulous!

I thought I would post something a little different tonight. These are some tags I made several years ago for a family swap I was in. This was the Grandmother part. The saying on the small one is "Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting" and the saying on the big one is "It is such a grand thing to be a mother to a mother...that's why the world calls her Grandmother". Found these this weekend while cleaning up.

New Stamps

2007-10-14T18:13:00.001-07:00

I got some new stamps this weekend from My Favorite Things and I love them. The card above is for their weekly challenge. This week's challenge was a sketch challenge. This is my card I did. I used the stamp set "How Sweet It Is". The card stock is sunny yellow from Close to My Heart and the background paper is from an old CTMH kit. The brads and ribbons are from my stash. The flower is a chipboard piece with CTMH flowers attached to it. The bling flowers are from CTMH also. This is the first challenge I have ever attempted. It was really fun.

Life is wonderful here. The kids are doing great in school and with their personal lives. Little one is out of school tomorrow for fall break and we have spend the night company. His two best friends are twins, and they are staying over tonight. They are all outside playing football and some of the neighborhood kids are playing also. We just had pizza delivered in and they demolished it!! Hubby has been home this weekend, and he is finally back on his regular schedule. I really relaxed this weekend. I cleaned out some drawers and got rid of extra toys, but that is really all I did. We went to church this am and then out for lunch. It was nice. We have not been able to do that lately because Jack has been out of town so much. Guess I better be going. Time for me to get ready for another week at work. Take care and God bless ya'll!!!!

Bookwormabella

2007-10-07T12:57:00.001-07:00

Been playing this weekend, and came up with these. I think she is so cute!!!! Have you taken advantage of Em's no shipping cost this weekend on any bella/fella stamps or items ordered? Hurry over to Stampin Bella http://www.stampingbella.com/index.php and check it out. It ends tonight at midnight. I got some new stamps this weekend from The Cat's Pajamas and High Hopes Stamps. IF you are not familiar with these stamps you need to go look. http://www.highhopesstamps.com/ and

http://www.thecatspajamasrs.com/

All the family is fine. Hope yours the same. Little buddie's soccer team beat the #1 team Tuesday night!! He has been so excited since and has been practicing every chance he gets to keep on winning. #1 son really into hunting now and daughter doing fine in school. She starts her clinicals next week--she's pretty nervous. Hubby going back on regular work hours this week. He will be back home on Thursday night and off Friday and weekend. These 10 days on the road are not good for him. I don't ever think I have seen him be so down in all the years I have known him. He really perked up this weekend though. Well I better go. God bless ya'll!!!!

Special Request

2007-10-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have a special request to ask. I was visiting a blog and saw this link
http://craftyengineering.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-candy-for-cause.html
This is blog candy being given away, but the reason is for a very loving family who needs all our prayers. This is the message that goes along with the candy.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Blog Candy for a Cause
Well I am new to the blogging world (since July…is that still new?) and I have seen lots of Blog candy out there, so I hope this wets the appetite a little in comparison to the others out there. Instead of just having everyone leave comments to get an entry for the blog candy, I have decided to ask you for something in return…a RAK card for some special people.Recently, my family’s lives have been touched by the plight of some friends of friends (but I am claiming them as our friends now too!). Michael and Alissa Dunn and their son Isaiah were blessed with beautiful twin baby girls on July 4, 2007. The pregnancy went fantastic and the twins were full term without any issues. Madeline Ora and Isabella Grace were wonderful additions to the family. Around the end of August, Michael and Alissa noticed that Maddie’s abdomen was a little swollen and firm, but she was acting completely normal. A few days later at the girl’s 2 month check-up, the pediatrician took one look at Maddie’s abdomen and sent them to the hospital for x-rays. A CAT scan shortly after revealed that Maddie had a large cancerous tumor called neuroblastoma Stage 4S. To give you an idea, this tumor has grown to about the size of a softball in her tiny body.Once checked-in at Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, the doctors quickly decided to take a look at identical twin Bella. Unfortunately, Bella was also diagnosed with neuroblastoma. According to their doctors, this is only the 9th reported case of twins have neuroblastoma at the same time. Both girls have undergone one round of chemotherapy and are beginning their second. You can see pictures and read their story from their own words at their website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dunntwins_.So as I hold my son a littler tighter and we pray together for the Lord to lay his healing hand on the ouchies in Maddie’s and Bella’s bellies, I thought it might be nice to let them know that prayers are being said all over the country and maybe the world for these two little girls and their family. As I read the journal entries on their website, I am amazed by the strength and faith that Michael, Alissa, and their families have shown.So I put together a special blog candy in which to get an entry, you need to mail me a RAK card for Maddie & Bella and/or for the family, that I will then place in a shoebox (hopefully I fill it!) and mail to them. So if you have the time, please make a card, sign it with your best wishes, post a picture of it to SCS (if you are able) with keyword bcfac07 so all can see it, and mail it to me. You can get an extra 2 entries if you advertise this Blog Candy for a Cause on your own blog…just make sure to leave me a comment so I can come visit the blog.
I would like all cards to be mailed to me by October 15! So get Crafty!!Thank you all for helping me pray and hopefully lift the spirits of the Dunn Family!Note: If you don’t normally take pictures of your cards or don’t post them to SCS, let me know and I will take a picture of the card when I receive it and post it to SCS.
Mail cards to:
Andrea Vernagus
Blog Candy for a Cause
2797 Warwick Dr.Bloomfield, MI 48304

We in the blogging world can put all our prayers together and bless this family. I cannot imagine one of my children being sick like this, much less two who have just joined this world and so young. Send your cards, thoughts and prayers. I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!

Heidi's Swap #2

2007-10-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!! This is the 2nd card I sent to Heidi's swap. The stamp is Causeabella. The cardstock is CTMH, and the background paper, ribbon, and embellishment are from my random stock of goodies. The eyelets are CTMH and what little coloring I did was with CTMH markers. October is Breast Awareness Month. Please get your mammograms and check yourself on a regular basis. Think pink and support Breast Cancer Awareness. I go to this site everyday and click http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Please consider the same. I have lots of friends who have been diagnosed with this dreaded thing. Please do all you can to fight it!!! God Bless ya'll.

Heidi's Swap

2007-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll!! I am still here. I have been so busy at work this last week I never had time to get on the computer. I received my swap from Heidi and ladies the cards are beautiful. http://heartfeltblessings.blogspot.com/ This is one of the cards I sent in. I had Wineabella and Causeabella. The basic cardstock is Close to My Heart and the background paper is some random paper I received in a monthly kit I get from Paper Posies. The stamp is CTMH--Delight in Everything--The flowers are also from this stamp set. I stamped the outline flower and then stamped the full flower and cut it out and made it 3-d with a brad. All brads are from CTMH. The ribbons are from my stash. I paperdolled the dress and used CTMH markers for the coloring. I love this stamp.

Hope all is well. I have been on call 4 out of 7 days last week and as usual I worked. My next paycheck should be GOOD!!!! All the family is fine. Little buddie is doing fine in school and so is the other two. Hubby came home for 4 days and then back on the road Monday for 10 more days. That is another reason I have been MIA for several days. Had to spend time with hubby--he really was feeling sorry for himself being gone for such a long time. Hunting season with a bow started today and #1 son is happy. He is an avid hunter and loves this time of year more than others. He is home from school for two extra days this week because they are on Fall Break. The other two do not get this, but Mississippi State does. The other two are mad, but they will get over it. They get longer Thanksgiving break than he does. I guess I will get going. Doss has come in from hunting and wants to get on the computer to see if any of his friends killed anything. Have a good evening and God Bless!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-09-22T01:55:00.000-07:00

I am starting to get in the mood for Christmas. I made this card yesterday using a tutorial from Paper Pleasing Ideas. The card stock for the card base is Pansy Purple. The cardstock for the insert is Outdoor Denim. The layers for the saying are OD and Indian Corn Blue. The background paper is from a winter collection of papers I have had for a long time. The stamps are from the Frosty Friends set and the eyelets are ICB and the brads are PP. The images are colored with my markers in the same colors. All products are Close to My Heart. The snowflakes are buttons I have had. I put liquid glass over the snowflakes on the paper, the scarves and other areas of the stamped images, and the snowflake buttons and I added a little glitter in some areas. This photo does not do this card justice. It really has a little bling to it in person.

I got in late last night from work around 9 and I have to be back about 7 this am. Hubby made it home safe. He and little buddie have gone to stay with his mom. Jack (aka hubby) stays every Friday night with her. We have sitters 24/7, and he and his sister stay 3 nights a week to help with the cost. Gotta go. Take care and God bless ya'll!!

2007-09-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Hope all is well. This is a card I made this weekend from the monthly paper kit I received last week. The cardstock, background paper and ribbon came in the kit from Paper Posies. The stamp is from Stampin Up. The brads are this bigger ones from Close to My Heart. Nothing fancy, but I love the colors. Sorry for the crooked scan--I hope someday I will learn to scan straight. Just a quick note to say all is well on the home front. Take care and God bless ya'll.

WhooooHoooo!!!!

2007-09-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!! We got progress reports today and this little man has his stuff together. Straight A's!!! Lowest grade was 95. The others were 97,98, and 2-99's. I was so excited. We went out to eat at his favorite restaurant and he was going to spend the night with his sister at her house, but he fell asleep and she decided to stay here since he was asleep. I am so proud of him and now I know that what ever that teacher said she is not dampening his spirits. Really, he loves her and I think he is learning a lot in this class. I even have not had any problems with her, their homework, or their projects. We still are not doing half as much as I expected. I may not be on much this weekend. Hubby is coming home Friday night--he's been working on the road 10 days. I also am on call all this weekend, so the chances of working are good. I had my yearly evaluation today and I got the best one I have ever had--I was a little worried about this since I up and quit my management postion and sort of left my boss hanging out on her own. This means I get a nice little raise. Yeah!!!
That's about it for tonight. I should be back tomorrow. Take care and God bless ya'll!!!!

Teachers happy #1

2007-09-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

"It's a great day to be alive..." I have been singing this song all day. It has been stuck in my head. The people at work have thought I was crazy. I don't know many more words than that and I keep singing it over and over. Today was really no different than any other. I guess it is just a true saying and I am glad to be alive!! My family is healthy, safe and just great! OH and there is one thing that is really great--Simon's signed papers this week and last were all A's--if you read my ranting several weeks ago about what his teacher said at Open House you will know why I am so happy. Everybody elses grade are great too.

This card is one of a set I made this weekend for Simon's teacher. He asked me to make her some for a happy. This paper came in my new monthly kit from Paper Posies. The flower was also a part of the kit. The brads are the bigger brads from CTMH and the stamp is teacherbella. I made 6 cards and envelopes, 2 of each design. He took them to school yesterday. I will post the others sometime this week.

Thanks for all the comments about Doss and his fish. One comment asked where in Mississippi I live. It is a little town in the delta region called Greenwood. We are about 1 1/2 hours from Jackson and about 3 hours from Memphis. Hope ya'll are well and blessed. Time for me to get little buddie in/out of the shower and study time. Take care and I will see ya'll tomorrow. God bless all!!

2007-09-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

OK, this is my oldest, Doss, with his big catfish. This fish weighed 65 pounds and he dove under water and pulled it out. It is called handgrabbing and they put boxes in the rivers around here and the fish bed up in them. They go down and feel for a fish, then they get someone to stand in front of the box and they dive back down and put their hand in it's mouth and pull it out. Is that crazy or what? I will not go and even watch. Doss is the one holding the fish and the other guy is one of his friends who goes with him a lot. I wish they would find some other fun past time. Anyway they love this. There is a season here in Mississippi every year. After they catch the fish they let him go so they can catch him again another day.

Quiet here on the home front. We had a soccer game tonight and lost, but he loves to play and does not seem to be upset about the loss. They have not won a game yet. They did play this team the other day in a scrimmage, and we played much better today than the other day. This is Simon's first year to play. My older kids were big into soccer when they were younger, but he has played basketball, baseball, and tennis only up until this year. He just loves to play. We are not the best by any means, but he has the best attitude. His coach always talks about his spirit and how he comes to every practice and pumps up the team.

Time to study for tests we have tomorrow and get to bed. Take care ya'll and I will post something hand made tomorrow. TTFN and God bless all!!!!

2007-09-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a blessed weekend and rested. I have been cleaning, started painting Simon's room and card making. I did this little number yesterday. The paper is from the Stylin CTMH paper packet. The stamp is from the Stampin Up set Friendship Flowers. I did my first attempt at faux stitching---I free handed it. I do not have a template to go by. The flower brads are from Picture Perfect Scrapbook Company. I punched the circles with my small round punch and the pink round brads are from CTMH, the bigger size. I love this pink and black combination.

I am settling in for another week. We have a soccer game tomorrow night. After that it is pretty quiet until the weekend and I am on call again Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have this new thing starting tomorrow at school. The kids will be given a debit card and we will be given a username and password for our child. This will enable us to see what your child is eating each day, and we will be able to know how much money is on the debit card and when we need to send more. We will be able to handle all of it on line. I am excited because I never know what he is eating, and I just send money each Monday. I think last year at the end of the year we had money left over. I know we did. Needless to say they did not refund me or roll it over to this year. We also are starting this year to be able to go on line and keep up with their grades. They have been doing this for about a year and a half, but we have just gotten old enough to be included.

My oldest came home this weekend. He is getting ready to hunt. You will be hearing a lot about him during this time because we will see a lot more of him. He got 3 packages delivered this week and it was all hunting stuff. He is really neat about this hunting. He is very selective about what he will shoot. He has 3-4 cameras in the woods year round. He knows the deer, names them and almost protects them from crazy hunters. He lives and dreams hunting, always has. He videos some of his trips and does commentary with it. He is a really a neat young man--almost said kid, but he is now 22. He always finds time to spend with his little brother when he is home. Somewhere on this computer, I have a picture of him with a 60 pound catfish he hand grabbed last year. I will have to find it and post it. It is impressive.

Well supper is almost ready and the laundry needs to go in the dryer. Have a blessed week ya'll and stay healthy, happy and safe. Please continue to pray for our troop and their families. GOD BLESS YA"LL!!!!!

2007-09-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I planned ahead on something. I am a very last minute person. I seem to do my best when under pressure. Any of you the same???? I have to do teacher snacks next Friday, so I made this card today to go with them. The first pic is the card and the second is the inside. The cardstock and background paper are from CTMH. This is a very old paper packet I have had for several years. I don't believe they make it anymore. The stamps are Stampin Up. They are also very old and not made anymore. I have always loved this combination. The bella is teacherbella. The ribbon is from some blog candy I won a while back. The letters are Bounce from Sizzix. I got them on sale the other day at Creative Express--like $38.00. They have really had some good deals lately.

I spent the day taking it easy. I made some cards and watched football. I am a REAL football fan, probably like it more than my husband. Late this afternoon, I cut my dad's grass and my daughters. Hubby usually does it but he has been home only a day or two lately, so I did it for him. He is used to his 4 day weekends and when his schedule is like it is now, I try to do some of his chores to help. We have a big riding lawn mower so cutting the grass is like easy. My daughter got her grades last week on her first nursing test. SHE PASSED and she also had her vital signs checkoff and she passed that also. I do not believe I have ever seen her as uptight about something as she was these tests. I also do not believe I have ever seen her study as much as she has been. Could we be growing up???

I have been looking at the cards and things on the bellahollics anonymous group photo page and ladies you girls are good!! They are having a VSBN this weekend. The challenges have been really neat and fun. I was to tired from the week to try and participate, but after seeing how much fun they are having I plan to join in on the next one. Guess I better call it a night. I will see ya'll tomorrow. Take care and God bless ya'll.

2007-09-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

I am back!!! It has been a very long and tiring week for me. TGIF!!! Last post I was called out to the hospital while I was posting. I worked all night!!!!!!!!! I came home at 8am the next morning and went to bed. Since I lost a day in this week, I feel like I have been a day behind all week. Finally yesterday I got back to normal, and would you believe I had to work last night until 9:30. Supposed to get off at 3, and went in at 7. I have always loved call, but I am not adjusting to it like I thought I would. Anyway, yesterday morning before work, I put this card together. This is some of my new stamping stuff that came in over the past week and a half. The card is from a Close to My Heart paper packet called Sonata. The stamp is musicbella. The colors used are Hollyhock, Spring Iris, Chocolate, and Buttercup. If you are not familiar with CTMH--pink, lavender, brown and a soft yellow. I really love their scrapbook paper. There are lots of new kits in the new winter catty, that just came out in September. The sentiment is from one of there stamp sets-The Music of Life. My little one loves his school music teacher and he has always wanted me to make her some cards. When I saw this paper and stamp set, I knew I had to have it. It just happened that about the time I saw the paper, Stampin Bella came out with Musicbella. Just worked out perfect for me!! The eyelets are CTMH and the ribbon is some I have collected over the years.

I got a sweet email from Kari, the blog candy winner this week. She received the package and was very excited. I hope we will have some of her artwork to show soon. I asked her to send me some pics when she made some stuff with the goodies. Hubby has to work all weekend, so I plan to play with my papers. I hope to have some more things to show tomorrow. TTFN!! God bless ya'll!!!

Card Candy

2007-09-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have a new obsession-Card Candy. They have been doing this on one of the groups I am in. Pat Huntoon started this with our group and they are doing a swap--Here is her site http://patstamps.blogspot.com/ You should go take a look. THe first page is made with Stampin Up's Penguin Pals and GingerBread House. The saying is from another set that I cannot remember the name of, but it is a Stampin Up set also. The packages are from some paper scraps I have and the ribbon is from a swap I was in sometime ago. The second sheet is from Stampin Up's A Merry Little Christmas. The paper is all scraps that I have kept over the years. These are really fun, but addicting.

I have had several people email to check on me this weekend because I had no new blog entries. Thank you all for your concern. I have been on call and when not working I have been doing the above. Oh no!! I have just been called back to the hospital. Talk later. God bless ya'll!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

I received this card in the mail today from Debbie Daniels. It had stamped images of huggybella in it. We are exchanging stamped images of bellas. She needed some different bellas and had a few of what she wanted, so I sent them to her. She in exchange sent me some of what she had that I did not--neat huh?
The card is soooooo cute. The pic does not do it justice. There is lots of glitter on it. I love shinies!! Thank you Debbie, and if you need anything else let me know.

Hope everyone is fine. We just got in from soccer and finished supper. Little buddie is studying and we will finish the project after he finishes studying. TGIAF--Thank God its almost Friday!!! I am so tired. I had to do another shift this week--10-6--instead of my regular 7-3. I do not like it. Tomorrow is my last day and they want me to come in at 7 tomorrow, but be obligated until 6. We'll see how it goes. Fridays are my favorite days because I work with my favorite doc all day. Well it's project time and I will see ya'll tomorrow---MY STAMPING ORDER CAME IN TODAY--YEAH!!!!! I just do not have time to play with it, but the weekend will be here soon. Maybe then we will see more than just bellas, but I don't know. I sure do like those ladies and gents. God bless all!!!!!

2007-09-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have gone all bella lately. I am going to have to get back into my other stamps soon and make things with them. I have an order coming in tomorrow with new paper, stamps, and embellishments--that should get me going in some other direction, but I just love these bellas. ( I also have an order with new bellas on the way also--ha ha ha!) Speaking of orders, Creative Express really has some good sale items on right now if you use Sizzix. Check it out.

I received a comment from Jo on my blog about what the bellas were. Jo I tried to email you directly, but it would not bring up your email addy, so I will talk with you here. These stamps have been out for several months and they are so cute. There is a bella or fella for just about any role in life. They also have sentiments, borders and other stamps, charms, bling items and acrylic bases for your stamps. I am enclosing the addy below. Emily is the bella mom and she is great. http://www.stampingbella.com/index.php Please go look!!Hope you join the bella craze. If you need me to answer any more questions or want to just talk my email is paperblessingstoyou@yahoo.com. Oh yea, thanks for visiting my blog!!!!

The card above is from an old Close to My Heart paper packet. The colors are key lime and amethyst. It was a spring kit from about 4 years ago. The bella is stampinbella. As you all know she is paper dolled--I AM going to color one someday--and so is her rolling bag. The ribbon is some I have had for a while and the eyelets are key lime from CTMH.

I am on call tomorrow and little buddie has his first project due Friday so I may not be back on until Friday or Saturday. We have most of the project done, we just have to put it on the poster board. It is about "My Community". We used the Sizzix to make the letters for the title--he loves to do the lever and cut letters out. We have taken some pics, drawn some pics, and cut some out of magazines. This is always a fun time for us. I thought it was due Monday, but I was wrong. I will post a pic when we finish. Time for me to go. My bed is calling me. I wish ya'll the best and may God bless all.

HAPPY LABOR DAY

2007-09-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day to all!! I hope it has been relaxing for ya'll. I have played with my stamps all day. The two cards above are some of my creations today. I used my Close to My Heart paper packet called Let's Get Together. The colors are Buttercup, Breeze, Cranberry, and Garden Green. I love this combination of colors. The stamps are Flowerbella and Sisterhoodabella. I paperdolled the clothes and the hairbow on one---this is a little more challenging than I thought. The brads are from Making Memories, the fibers are from Adornments, the buttons are from S.E.I., and the eyelets are from CTMH. Usually Monday is RAK day on one of the groups I am in, but since the mail did not go out today, they will go out tomorrow to some lucky people. Hope ya'll enjoy.

Well my rib injury had gotten a lot better until I jumped up to answer the phone yesterday. I tripped over a throw pillow that had fallen off the couch. When I tried to get my balance, someone had left their shoes (HUBBY) in the middle of the floor and needless to say---DOWN I WENT!!!!! My hubby tried to catch me (with a cup of coffee in his hand) and you can guess---the coffee went all over both of us. It is kind of funny now, but I was not a happy camper all day yesterday. It is not as bad as it was, but it really hurts. I do not know if I will ever get my little boys room painted. That was today's project--NOT. I hope I will be able to get to it the latter part of this week. I just have to slow down again and let it reheal.

I hope ya'll have a great week and are very blessed. I will be back tomorrow with some more creations. Pray for our soldiers and their families. TTFN!

2007-09-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

I know it is a little early for the real beginning of Fall, but it is finally a little cooler today and it put me in the mood. Also all the high school and college football this weekend has gotten me fired up. No matter how hot it gets the cool weather is coming. I am on call this weekend, but I did find time to do this. The base card is Close to my Heart-Barn Red; the background paper is from an old CTMH paper packet called Natures Treasures; the stamp is from Endless-Designs; the ribbon is tan grosgrain and Hunter Green organdy; the sentiment is mine that I printed on the computer. I'll be back soon, must go now.

2007-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I did this week. The cardstock and background paper are scraps left over from a monthly kit I receive. The ribbon is a scrap also. The eyelets are from Close to My Heart. The stamp is from Stampin Up. The chipboard piece is from Heidi Swapp. I have just started using chipboard accesories, and I think I am going to be using them a lot more.

I hope ya'll have had a great week. I am so glad Friday is almost here. Hubby is working out of town this week and will be home Saturday he thinks. All the kids are fine. My daughter had a strange thing happen today. She was in her nursing class lab and they were learning techniques of transport, moving, turning patients. She and one of her best friends are in the same lab and they are both small. Their groups picked them to be the patients because they would be easier to move. First thing was the group was going to pull Carre (daughter) up in the bed and when they did they banged her head against the headboard. Next thing they were to do was lift and transport a patient from one bed to a chair. Mauri (best friend) was the patient, and when they went to move her, they dropped her!!! The girls said then, we are not the guinea pigs any longer, some of ya'll can be the patient. She has laughed ever since she got home. Glad they were ok. I believe she is having a good time. Better get to bed. Long day tomorrow. See ya'll later!!

Life Moment

2007-08-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is my little one on his first day of 3rd grade. I can take 10,000 pics and that is the smile I am going to get!!! We are 2 weeks into school and all is well. Went to Open House last night, and our teacher put the fear into all. She is making very sure that we should expect our little ones to not do as well as they have been. She made one statement that really got to the point she was trying to make. She was giving all the usual about this year--what days tests were, rules in the class, expectations, projects, extra points, etc.--she kept saying she would give extra credit projects as well as required projects because your child will need them. Then she said, "I just want you to know what 3rd grade is really about--last year in 2nd grade there were 15 students who made all A's all year, last year in 3rd grade there were only 7--I hope you know your little darlings may not be able to do as well this year, so do not expect all A's." I have been through 3rd grade with 2 other of my children. It is a hard grade, responsibility, ownership, growing up kicks in, but I just hope she is not talking to the kids with such negativism, even if it is true. I really think she has some good points in her talk, but I feel like she is expecting them to do bad. Anyway, she asked how homework was going. She said some mother told her she could not believe the amount we were having for the 1st 2 weeks of school, and then she said I am sorry, but this is very light compared to what is coming. I also think the homework has been light. I really expected a lot more already. Well, today I got it. Second poem to learn since we started school, book report--but they are doing that at school and she is reading it to them, Social Studies project all due in the next 10 days.

Ok, enough gabbing about school. Life Moment--we were buying new school shoes the other day, and Simon decided he wanted white. I tried to talk him out of it, because I knew they would be dirty and stained in a few days. We had originally picked out blue ones, but he decided he wanted the white with the red check. After much discussion we were at a stand off. Then out of his mouth--"Momma, don't worry about this, I got it. You just sit over there and look pretty. It's going to be ok" I thought the shoe lady was going to fall off her stool. Long story short--we got gray with blue accents!!! Told him these were in a magazine as the fastest running shoes made. Have a great evening and GOD BLESS ALL!!!!!

THE WINNER!!!!

2007-08-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, the winner is Kari!!!! The kids cut up all the names, and then grabbed one out of a bowl. They thought this was so cool---little one especially. Big sis was here. She kept him for me while I went to the school. Kari, please email me
paperblessingstoyou@yahoo.com so I can get your mailing address and your preferences for the embossing colors. Congratulations and a great big thank you to all for visiting and subscribing. I hope to keep ya'll interested with new and exciting things. TTFN

2007-08-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Ok ya'll, here is the final candy pictures. The ribbon is what I added yesterday. The 1st picture is all the candy combined. I added 3 horizontal tag holders. I make luggage tags with them and a Stampin Up set--In The Sky. This is an older set, but I loved it, and got 2 by accident so I thought you might like it. So here is the total: 1 Level One Paper Packet and Stickease by Close to My Heart

1 pack of chipboard hardware

All the stamped bella images stamped with black ink on

premium white cardstock

All the embossed images on colored cardstock--Winner will get the chance to request which colors they would like. If I have them then you will get what you want, if not I will send as close to what you want as possible.

The altered tin

The mini book

3 horizontal tag holders

A pile of ribbon

The Stampin Up stamp set-In The Sky

I will be home from Open House at school around 8 pm, and the kids are drawing the winner. Good Luck!!!!!! Will post the winner then.

2007-08-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Not a typical Monday. Work was very slow. I started out with a case, and just like usual I started to my room pushing my patient on his stretcher and no help. There were 8 people standing doing nothing. Two were MSW's (mult- skilled workers) who are supposed to be waiting to help us in and out of rooms with our patients. They just sat on their stools, and the other 6 were nurses or nurses in training who just looked at me. I finally said, I cannot push this stretcher by myself, and 1 nurse and 1 MSW offered to help. I am not able to push those heavy stretchers right now by myself. It is so aggrivating!!!! My doc who hurt my rib wrote on the back of my shirt "Please don't squeeze the Charmin-----Signed, Mr. Whipple." He is so crazy. I really did better than I thought I would. I was very careful not to pull or tug on anything that was too heavy.

The card above is a RAK, I sent to someone today. Hope they enjoy. The card stock and background paper is from Close to My Heart. The ribbon is random from my stash. The stamp is Emmybella. The embellishment flower is from a kit I have, and the flower brads are from Picture Perfect Scrapbook Co. Just a little happy to brighten someones day. Today I am adding some ribbbon to the blog candy. Don't forget to post a comment or subscribe to this blog so you will be in the drawing tomorrow. I will post a pic tomorrow of all the candy items with the name of the winner. Take care and be blessed!! TTFN.

Continuation of Pics of Blog Candy Addition

2007-08-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

These are the rest of the pics of the 3 x 3 mini album that I am giving away in the blog candy!!! See ya'll later!!!

Another Addition to the Blog Candy

2007-08-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

These are some of the images from a 3 x 3 mini album I am including as todays addition to the blog candy. The album and paper are from Close to My Heart, the ribbon, fibers and embellishments are some things I have accumulated over the years. There are 5 more pics I have downloaded, but the file was too large to put in one post. I will add them in another post.

Hope ya'll are having a great weekend. Mine has been pretty quiet. Today I did a lot of stamping. I made a RAK for bellaholicsanonymous, that I will send to someone tomorrow, 4 invitations for a sleepover for a friend's child at work, and a card for a lady who is organizing something for a friend of hers in need. It is a young mother who has been diagnosed with a terrible illness, she is having major surgery in latter September and they do not know if she will make it. They are asking for 12 x 12 pages pre-made, so all the young woman will have to do is put the pictures on them. Her children range from 9 y/o to lap baby. If you are interested in helping out with this, please email me privately paperblessingstoyou@yahoo.com We do not have much time to get this in. I am sending a lot tomorrow. Please remember this young family in your thoughts and prayers. Hope ya'll have a great week. I am better and going back to work tomorrow--some restrictions, but I'll be fine. TTFN!!!

2007-08-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

OK, I am still with us. It has been quite an interesting 2 days. The pain pills work as long as I am still, which if you have not figured out by now is near impossible. I am a work-a-holic. I had so much planned to do this weekend, and it was almost a bust. Hubby and daughter picked up the slack. We did not get Simon's room painted, but they moved some of the furniture out and put his bed, chair, ottoman, and night table in before he got home from school yesterday. I had promised him last week that would happen and I was going crazy because it was not. We will paint next weekend or when I am better. If you are a new reader, Simon is my little one--9 y/0. My daughter, Carre, started nursing school this week. She has been off at college 2 years and living on her own, so I rented her a house to live in, and gave Simon her room to upgrade to. It is a lot larger than his and has a 1/2 bath off it. We are turning Simon's old room into a guest bedroom, or a place for the big kids to sleep if they want to stay home. My oldest son, Doss, also has a place of his own. I feel a lot better, but I just cannot do anything or it hurts. I hope I can make it back to work on Monday. I am so bored. I did a little stamping, but the pills seem to slow down my concentration, and it just is not coming out like I want it to.

I did not post yesterday so I will annouce today what the addition to the blog candy was---I am giving away some embossed sheets of cardstock from my Cuttlebug Folders--The only ones I have are Thanks, Snowflakes, D'vine Swirl, Happy Birthday, and Congrats. I will make some of each one in different colors and include that as part of the candy.

Todays addition is the altered tin in the above photo. I used More to Adore paper and ribbon, Friendship Blessings stamp set--all from Close to My Heart, and Emmybella stamp from Stampin Bella. The tin I bought sometime ago, and had never fixed it. I paperdolled the clothes on Emmybella and used Close to My Heart markers to color in the rest of it. The other pic on this page is the Level One paper packet from Close to My Heart I added the first day of the blog give away. I will post a pic at the end of the give away of all items sent with the blog candy. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for my recovery. Ya'll are a sweet bunch. See you tomorrow. Oh yea, if there are typos in this writing, plaese forgive. That is another thing with these meds---I cannot type anymore!!!!