My Pink Christmas Tree

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!!!!

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

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

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

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!!

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!!

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!!!