Our freedom was not free...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I hope you've had a wonderful week so far!

Today's card may look a little familiar to you as I've made a card with this image before.  You can see it HERE.  I am finally making and sending out cards to the families of THESE soldiers.  I already had three of the eagles printed out so I just colored them and got to work making the cards.  The eagle image is from the Doodle Pantry store and is called Patriotic Eagle. 

I used Carly's sketch for this card loving the idea of the red star stripes with the blue background.  I think overall this works so beautifully together.  I used the same sentiment inside of this card as I did the other I linked you to above. 

I also want to mentioned that my time as a design team member for Sweet 'n Sassy stamps has come to an end.  I've enjoyed playing with all the images and appreciate the opportunity to design with them!

Thought of the day:  "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." C. S. Lewis 

thank you

Good morning all! I spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of days making 9 of the cards I'm showing you. I think it would have taken less time if I would have had more time to work in one sitting but it just didn't work out that way. Ah, well!

Today's card features an image from Clear Dollar Stamps called Aster. All I did was size the digital image to what I thought I would need and printed off a test image. Then I attached my white cardstock to the paper and ran it through again...9 times. Then it was just coloring the image, stamping the sentiment and then running the butterfly die through my Big Shot. Really, it was easy to do!

I was so proud of myself last night! I finished up these cards (which includes a piece of cardstock on which I stamped a scripture and adhered ab additional butterfly), signed them, addressed and stamped them all too! I also started 3 other cards and 2 door hangers. In all I had 15 items waiting to go into the mailbox this morning! I felt super productive!

Thought of the day: "Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one bothered to ask." Billy Graham What do you need to talk to your creator about today?

Fab-u-lous

Good morning friends! I'm so glad to be back today after being so busy last week and the confusion of transferring over my blog. I hope no one got lost on their way here!

Today Doodle Pantry is one of the sponsors for Paper Playtime's August Digi Challenge with a theme of Vacation. I made this fun card with two of Doodle Pantry's newest sets Vintage Auto, the colored version and Vintage Auto Paper Pack. I used Vanilla paper and sponged all edges (except the blue) with Tim Holtz distress ink in Old Page.

I'm almost finished with some thank you notes that I'm making for my Sunday school teachers. I should be able to show them to you tomorrow. Yay!

This is another one of those weeks. We have a fair/rodeo that starts with going to the fair with Kyler on Thursday, the Rodeo Bowl (football game) on Friday, the parade on Saturday, and then we are going to the rodeo on Monday afternoon so busy week! I will be back as much as possible though!

Thought of the day: What would the child you once were think of the adult you've become?

#1 Fan

Good morning friends! It has been a busy week already this week...yay! I subbed for the church secretary this week and while that is only until 3 in the afternoon it totally threw off my day and I haven't gotten much crafting in but I do have something for today and I have time in my schedule to create today so woohoo!



Today I'm showing you the insert to a notepad holder I made for an RAK. This person has kids that are all into sports so I thought I'd go ahead and make her something with a sports theme and I thought moms have to take notes during games too, right?



The paper that I've used is paper that I have in my stash. That "foam" hand? That is an SVG that I found on the net and then just cut it with my Cricut. I just printed the sentiment on the hand, put some "stitching" around it, and then added some stars at the bottom. It can't be thick so I couldn't add any dimension to it. I really like the results and I hope she will like it too!



I just want to give you guys a heads up about my blog. I'm going to be moving my blog to a new blog address soon and my followers widgets don't move with it (I don't believe) so you will have to re-subscribe. I will let you know when this is about to take place but wanted you to know ahead of time!



Make today a wonderful day all!



Thought for the day: God recycles...he made you out of dust. Genesis 2:7

Fairy good cake...

Good Monday morning friends! I hope you had a fabulous weekend!



I have just a quick post for ya today showing off a little birthday card that I made last week. I couldn't resist this cute Stamping Boutique image with Cynthia on that birthday cake so I printed it out, colored it up, used Carly's sketch and made a card. The paper and embellishments are from an old SU! scrapbooking kit. Sometimes, I'm amazed at what I keep! The chocolate frosting has glaze on it to make it look like ganache 'cuz yeah....it is yummy!



If you look real close it looks like Cynthia smeared her lipstick when applying but I prefer to think of it as the sprinkles on the cake staining her lips...that works, right?



Thought for the day: What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

Clear Dollar Stamps August Blog Hop

Good morning all! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Ours has been very pleasant so far.



Welcome to the August Clear Dollar Stamps Blog Hop! You should have arrived from Sarah's blog. If you didn't head back to the CDS blog to start. This month we have a theme of "My Favorite Things." I, of course, wanted clarification of what that meant and was told I could make it whatever works with the theme. Oh, boy...I like clearly defined parameters...lol!



I went lots of different ways when thinking of what I'd do...Christmas, music, movie, and finally I just went with my favorite season...fall. My birthday is in the fall and my grandma and grandpa used to come up for it each year. We'd have a bonfire and just enjoy each others company. Good memories!



I have used the digi set called Autumn Joy on my card along with some paper and embellishments that I've had around forever. I have to tell you I really enjoyed coloring this tree. I used probably about 15 different Copic marker colors.



I hope you like my little card! Now, you need to head on over to Jan's blog by clicking HERE. Have a great time on the blog hop everyone!

Life is grand...

Good morning friends! It's I'm sure most of you are thrilled as I am. I'm not sure why I like Friday's so much but I do!



For today's card I used a super sweet SNSS image called Rhubarb's Cup o' Joe. Don't you just love it? The paper I used is from MME and is Stella and Rose's Gertie Papers. I adore this paper pad! I added some ribbon from my stash of ribbon, added some flower bling (can you see it on the coffee cup as well as under the sentiment?) and wahlah Rhubarb's lookin' pretty! I love that this particular image can be male or female...it is all in the coloring.



I also used the Deconstructed Sketch for this week which, I think, is a super fun one. I was in the SNSS store last night and spied some Bo Bunny papers that I think I might have to have!



Tomorrow morning we are going to the pancake breakfast/kids rodeo that starts the fair/rodeo season here where I live. I love seeing all the little kids in the parade! Have a wonderful Friday!



*Thought of the day: Why is it that our children can't read a Bible in school,

but they can in prison?* Don't get me wrong, I appreciate prison ministries but maybe some of those people wouldn't be in prison if they had read the Bible in school. Just sayin' and since it is my blog...I can!

Attitude is everything

Well, we are on the downside of the week now..yay! Who has fun plans for the weekend? Who is happy to not have plans?



Today I have a very clean and simple card made with a Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamp image called Turntable Josh. I don't have very many 'guy' images right now so I thought the SCRS sketch challenge for the week would be perfect to help solve that. The patterned papers that I used are from Cosmo Cricket's The Boyfriend mini deck.



Not much more to share with ya today since the card is so straight forward. I'll be back tomorrow with a card to share from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and Sunday I'm taking part in the Clear Dollar Stamps Blog Hop so...I'll see ya then!



Proverbs 30:5 assures us, "Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection." There is something satisfying about submitting ourselves to God and being content with His dealing with us. Is there a case you need to discuss with Him today? From: It's No Secret by Rachel Olsen

Birthday Boy

Whew...this week is going very slow for me so I'm a thrilled it is finally Wednesday! How about you...how is your week going?



Just a quick post today to show you a cupcake topper that I made when I joined in on a mini challenge with Scraptastical Kreations on Facebook. The idea was to take one of their cut files and make and, obviously, make a cupcake topper with it. I thought making a topper that denotes the birthday boy's cupcake would be cute. I made it with Kyler in mind so that is why it is green. It is the first time I've ever made a shadow in SCAL but I really wanted something behind the 'birthday boy' that matched it pretty well. I guess I could have made it a bit smaller but I don't think any birthday boy is going to care much! The patterned paper is from Basic Grey and that is a balloon dotting the "i".



Like I said...quick post today. Enjoy your day everyone!



Yahweh loves us because love is what He is and what He does. We are His creation. We belong to Him. He loved us long before we ever returned that love or offered Him an ounce of worship (1 John 4:19). And He will love us should we neglect offering any thanks or praise to Him today. From: It's No Secret by Rachel Olsen It is natural for us to praise those we love and thank those that do things for us. It should be just as natural to thank Him for the love and grace he gives us every day.

Welcome Back!

Good morning! So, I'm a little behind the eight ball in creating for back to school but when your son is 13, going into 8th grade, and has two male teachers...well, that just doesn't create they same sense of excitement as, frankly, having a female teacher.



I thought it would be fun to make something for the principal's door for the first day of school so...I found a pattern from My Scrap Chick (I think it was a freebie or $1 pattern) and played with the colored School Sheep image in Photoshop (I added the a,b,c, 1,2,3, and welcome back to the chalk board) and eventually decided it would all work. I cut the door knob hanger first, then printed and cut the sheep image with my nesties. I thought it was cute right there but just not enough so I opened up the outlines background paper that comes in the School Sheep set and printed that onto the green cardstock (both front and back due to the way the hanger folds up). I then added some color to a select few apples. I also was going to glitter up the apples but grabbed my glaze pen instead...a good mistake because I like the way the apples look glazed. The leaves are sparkled though and so is the apple on the desk. Just a little bit of twine under the image tied (pun intended ) this all together.



Now I think I'm going to make one of these for each of the female teachers, the school secretary and the principal...being that it is a small school, though, it will only be 8 of them and one is done! What is going to go in the pocket you may ask? I think I'll put a dark chocolate Girardelli square and a packet of the Starbucks Via coffee...a good start to just about anyone's morning right?



In John 14:18 Jesus says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (KJV). That's a strong, assertive statement spoken with the authority of God. Believe me, my stressed out Sisters, and ask for it each time gray clouds start rolling in over your lake. From: It's No Secret, Rachel Olsen Like many of you I have had many storms roll over my lake and I gotta tell ya...Jesus can calm them in a second if you just call on him. If you'd like to know more about my faith please let me know!

Big News at Sweet n' Sassy!

Not only does Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps have a wonderful new release this month but it also has some wonderful, BIG news!



First off, SNSS is now offering dies for their stamps. The very first set of dies is made to go with the gorgeous fall set called Season of Change. Hmmm...did you notice who illustrated the Season of Change set? No, well that is excitement number two! The lovely and talented Dina Kowel is now illustrating sets for SNSS! I know...so exciting huh? As if those two things weren't exciting enough SNSS announced last Saturday that they are now a member company on Splitcoast Stampers! That is right...now you will get all your SNSS fix at SCS! How exciting huh?



I'm sure you are wondering what the image is to the right...right? Well, this cutie stamp set is the stamp set you will receive for FREE with a $50 purchase from now until Aug 31st How fun, huh?



Alright, I know you want to go check out all the fun stuff so...away you go...enjoy!

Clear Dollar Stamps Digital Release Day!

Good morning friends and welcome to Clear Dollar Stamps August Digi Release! This month I have two super cute samples to show you with the new release images and they couldn't be more different!



Above is a card with Praying Eyes Mantis. Isn't he just hilarious with those eyes?! The "here's Looking at you" sentiment on the background piece comes with the digi set. I just opened Word and placed the sentiments on the document several times, printed it out and made my card. It is funny because the hardest part about this card was getting those "random" pieces of colored cardstock to look "random." I think I like random to be more structured!

This second card is made with the digi set Gladiolia. I was a little nervous to work with this set as it is not within my "normal" comfort zone but they needed someone and I said yes before I really thought about it...lol! The sentiment that you see behind the main image is actually an image in the set. It talks about the Gladiolia being the flower for August and such. I just cut my green cardstock the size I wanted and ran it through the printer. It worked like a charm! The Gladiolia's are colored with Copics. The ribbon is from my stash and there is a soft pink and vanilla ribbon. For the final little embellishment I used a butterfly stick pin in the center of the bow. If you want to see it better just click on the photo and that will make it bigger.



There you have it! My cards with Clear Dollar Stamps newest Digital Release. Make sure you hop on over to the CDS Blog to see what my DT sisters have done plus I believe there is a new challenge starting soon!



In John 1:5, Jesus said, "The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." Remember that Jesus stands beside you right in the middle of your crisis, in the middle of your darkest day. He also stand in the middle of your tomorrow, fully aware of your future. From: It's No Secret by Rachel Olsen

For a little one...

Good morning! Well...today is Friday...woot, woot! What are your fabulous plans for the weekend? Me, not much...at least I think as my phone has died and my calendar was on it. So yeah, if I'm supposed to be doing something for you or with you this weekend, I have an awful memory and I don't remember so let me know, k? My new phone is on its way to me and I will have it by 4:30 pm so I will be good to go soon!



So, todays card, in case you can't tell, is for our friend's grandson. He is turning (or did) 2 soon so we are sending along a little something and I wanted to make a card to go with. He loves Buzz and Toy Story so I had to go with that theme. I wanted to make the Buzz, Alien, and Woody with my Toy Story Cricut Cart but I just couldn't figure it out so I found some jpeg photo I like, printed them, cut them out, and tahdah! I love this card so I hope that he'll like it for at least 5 seconds...he is only 2 you know!



There isn't any technique to this one so there isn't any 'splainin to do. The blue and red cardstocks are from AC Cardstock. Oh, the Buzz frame is from the Cricut Cart...it is the only thing I could get to cut correctly...lol!



Alright, so that is it for today! I hope you have a fabulous day!



"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalm 91:4

shell-o

Good morning friends! Well, here we sit at Thursday, our week almost done. Have you accomplished all you've wanted or is it 'one of those weeks' for ya?



Today I have used the cute Turtle Greetings set from Clear Dollar Stamps on my card. I just adore this little turtle (remember THIS card?). There is something about his smile that makes the sun come out (that is a sun not a flower on the card) and those cute lady bugs getting a ride on his shell...super cute! The patterned paper is from MME's lime twist collection called Out of the Blue.



Make sure you check out the Clear Dollar Stamp blog HERE. They clear stamp team has had some great tutorials recently!



"I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches." Psalm 119:14. What does this mean? This means that we are just as happy following what God tells us about our lives as we are gather riches. So, whether you are having an up or down week as long as we are following God we can be happy!



I hope you make today exactly what you want it to be! See you all tomorrow!

Sweet Peek Day Three

Good morning again all! This week is going by fast...it is already Wednesday.



I have another Sweet Peek from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for ya today. This time it is the super cute Cocoa all ready for fall! Hence the name Fall time Cocoa. This image in the set lends itself particularly well to piecing with it's big ole pumpkin so that is what I did. I chose some retired SU! patterned papers and got to work. The Happy Fall Y'all is one of the cute fall sentiments in this set and is one of my personal favorite fall sentiments. Make sure you head on over to the SNSS blog today so you can head on over to the other sneak peeks today!



Have a wonderful everyone!

Sweet Peek Day Two

Good morning friends! Welcome to day #2 of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps August Sweet Peeks! This is such an exciting month that I know you'll want to stay tuned for all of it!



Today we are giving a peek of the new stamp set called Many Thanks. I was thrilled when Korin sent me this set to preview with y'all as I just love sentiment stamps (it is almost embarrassing how many of them I have) and when I received them I was not disappointed. I recently got a new Nestibilities tag set so I decided to use that along with some gorgeous paper and ribbon to make my card.



I hope you will hop on over to the SNSS blog to check out the rest of today's sweet peeks as well as to join us all week long. I promise...by week's end you will not be disappointed! (Yes, there is something big coming!)



I leave you with..."Praise be to the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1. Now lets go a little further than that in Psalms...2. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. Can you see how this scripture would be a comfort to those in battle? Try looking up Psalm 91 sometime. You will find that God does protect His followers in battle. Very comforting to a mom whose son is in battle (both spiritual and physical) everyday!



Have a lovely day all!

hello

Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good! My ankle is still limiting what I can and cannot do. I was crafting last night and had to finish up my day in the craft room because my foot was so swollen it was uncomfortable. Craziness, I tell ya! Today, though, I'm going to do some exercising...nope, no jumpy around aerobics but some upper body and ab work. I can't sit around forever!



Today's card is a card I made real quick to send with an A Muse Studio catalog that I was sending out. It is super simple but I had been wanting to try a line frame for quite some time. I only messed up once which is pretty good for me! The flower and 'hello' are from the Kindred Spirits set. While you can't tell from the photo I used shimmer chalks on the flower and in real life it is all shimmery and pretty! The ink I used is Papaya and the cardstock is lichen. All products used for this card can be found HERE in my a|s store.



Alright, that is it for today. This week I've got some cards for ya from the regular list of suspects as well as a new company (to me) thrown in there (not DT stuff just for fun).



Have a wonderful Monday! Today is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24.

Doodle Pantry Release!

Good morning friends! Finally, I get to post something crafty and it is new release time from Doodle Pantry! As in previous months there are so many super cute sets being released. Go check them all out HERE! First up....
The pictures above and below are the outside and inside of my card made with Quirky Crab and one of its sentiments. I so adore this fun summer image and colors. *This is the pre-colored image.* The patterned papers are from Echo Park's Splash paper pad. I also used Carly's sketch for this card!
Below you see a card made with the Peppermint set. While I went with somewhat of a Christmas color combination I chose a more neutral sentiment thinking it would be refreshing to send out at anytime. The patterned papers you see on this card come with the Minty Paper Pack. Fun stuff I'm tellin' ya!
Now for the cool stuff...the sale! All school themed images are 40% off and the Digi Grab Bag is 50% off! PLUS, don't forget about the free with purchase set! One more thing...check out the blog HERE to see the newest challenge and win yourself some free Doodle Pantry images!

Alright y'all...enjoy the release, have a wonderful weekend, and see ya Monday! Oh, and thank you so much for your kind comments for healing on my ankle. It is not as locally swollen today but my entire foot and ankle is still swollen and now very black and blue. I can, however, walk fairly well on it as long as I don't over extend up or down or side to side. Just some limitations for now. I'm trying to enjoy the time of slow down that the Lord has given me...he orders my steps for sure!

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

A Cankle

Good morning! Sorry I haven't posted this week...it has been an interesting week so far!

If you can't tell from the photo I am showing you my nicely swollen left outside ankle. Yes, I have a tattoo, no I don't regret it, yes I would like another. I was doing my step-aerobics DVD on Monday and stepped off the side wrong twisting my ankle. Todd and a couple of friends thought that I should have it x-rayed so I did and...it is not broken. I went home with an air cast to keep my ankle from rolling (I'll wear this for a week or so) and crutches that I only needed to use Monday and yesterday. Today I'll start putting Arnica on it (don't know why I didn't do that on Monday!). It doesn't look super bruised in the photo but I just noticed bruising this morning.

Since I've had my ankle up for the last two days I haven't created much and what I have are design team commitments. Today is a busy day and tomorrow is Care Net BUT Friday is new release day for Doodle Pantry and I have two super fun cards to show you for that! Next week I will start my week off on Tuesday (if I don't post something on Monday) with a Sweet Peak from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Then I will have two more Sweet Peaks for ya on Wednesday and Saturday too! So hang in there...don't leave me yet, this is just a bump in the road!

I hope your week has been a good one so far! See ya soon!