What a Week!!!

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

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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!!!!