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

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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.