Peeking Daffy!!

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I posted last. Where have my days gone?? We have been very busy here and sometimes I like that. It keeps me out of trouble. LOL! Other times I just wish it would all slow down so I could breathe. I think you can all understand that feeling.

I was having an I need to slow down day and I did. It was so nice. Even though it was sprinkling a little I decided to take pictures of some of my flowers. I also thought I would share them with you.

This is a small part of my cute white picket fence. The daffodils have been beautiful this year. Some have even been peeking through the other side just to say hello to me in the house. I have many many clumps around the church property and it has been just a blaze of yellow smiling flowers. I'm sad to say that the rain we have had since I took the pictures has not only dampened my spirits, but also my flowers. They are some sad little things now.

You can see that some of my perennials are starting to really come up. Even since I took these there has been tremendous growth. I have bloom heads on my iris already and that means summer is very close!!

For the last 5 years I have been removing what I call filler plants that if left alone would overtake a garden. Slowly I have been able to thin things out and replace with some lovely perennials and the occasional annual. This year I am really looking forward to finishing up with my plans. Landscaping is one of my favorite things to do. Two years ago I did the yards of several friends. It was a lot of fun!! This year it is all for me and I am really looking forward to it.

Gardening has always been a calming thing for me. There is just something about feeling the soil between your fingers, smelling the rich humus and flowers and just enjoying the sounds that always accompany time in the garden. So I think I will take my shoes off and just enjoy for a little longer.

Well on second thought, maybe not. This seems to be what happens to shoes left unattended too long in my yard. Guess I better keep my tootsies covered up!

Thanks for stopping by again and enjoying my flowers with me. Have a wonderful rest of the week. I know I will!!

Blessed Messes!

I am glad to report that the week that started out so bad is now much better and actually very good. I am so thankful for that. The Lord has blessed our messes this week beyond anything I could have even imagined. Isn't that often the way though.

One way He blesses is by allowing me time to be creative through my card making. He knows that for me it is a stress reducer. Almost any kind of crafty project is a stress reducer for me. I suppose I would be remiss to leave out gardening in the mix too. I love tending my flowers and playing in the dirt. I think it goes back to my days as a child growing up on a farm. Remember making mud pies? What a mess!

And messes is what my first card is today. Not my mess, but my dear Charlie the Church Mouse! He is a mischievous little fellow. He went to Cindy's weekly tea party without me. He took along his little cousins Charlene and Roy. The trouble they got into!!

The image is of course from House Mouse. I love those little mice!! I stamped it in Stazon then I water colored and touched up a little with colored pencils. Charlie and Charlene look like they just stuffed themselves with chocolate don't they? You may wonder where Roy is. Well that is a whole nuther story that you will have to go to my gallery on SCS to learn about!

My second card isn't a mess or based on one. It is for the weekly SCS Inspiration Challenge. We were to find our inspiration from a Kleenex box. You know how so many of the boxes are just beautiful. I have often thought how nice one would be as background paper! Well after searching high and low I didn't come up with a Kleenex box. I found one from the "other" guys. But it is still a tissue box and I had fun making a card from the overall concept of the box.

The paper is actually from Inspirations! How's that for appropriate?! The stamps I used are from Stampin' Up. It's one of the new hostess sets called God's Beauty.

I stamped both the butterfly and the sentiment with Stazon. The butterfly is colored using water colors. You can see I pierced around different parts of the card. Never have been fond of piercing. Oh I love the way it looks, just don't like the actual process of doing it. I have to say though it is growing on me.

I am so thankful that the Lord sees beyond the messes we have in our life and from those messes come some very beautiful things!! Thanks for stopping by again!

Keep On Trusting!!

When I decided to work on the SCS sketch Challenge late last night I knew exactly what stamp I wanted to use! I have had a week (and it is only Wednesday) that put my faith and trust to the test.

It started on Sunday when I wasn't feeling very good. I knew I just had to stay healthy and decided to stay home all day and not get exposed to any more germs. I have been sick enough for one year already.

Then Monday hit. We received a phone call from our oldest son. He lost his job. It was very sudden and totally unexpected and undeserved. We spent time talking to him and praying, knowing there was a reason. Here is where some of that trusting was put to test.

Then Monday evening hit! Our youngest son called shortly after my husband left for his part-time job. He was in a car accident. His car was totaled. He was hurt and needed me. So I dashed out the door praying the whole way to him. His physical injuries were not as bad as this mom's imagination could come up with, but he was pretty shook up. A lot of little bruises, abrasions and sore spots, one strained wrist. I would say he got away pretty safely! The car, well not so much! It is gone for good. Add some more trusting to the week!

Now for Tuesday!! Oooh it just keeps going. My husband and I had a meeting an hour from our house. Off we went very early in the AM to get there only to find out the meeting had been postponed till later in May. So an hour drive home knowing we had to make the same trip again in 3 weeks. Frustrating. We were trying to understand why. Still don't know why, but more trusting!

When we got home I had to go with our youngest son to pick up the accident report so we could get it turned in to the insurance company. The policeman assured us it would be ready the day after the accident. So a 40 minute drive to pick it up only to find out it wasn't ready. Hmmm, Lord what are You up to??? So home we went and kept on trusting.

Aaron decided he wanted to try and go to work that night. So my husband took him in and I went to pick him up. While I was waiting for him the van died!! I tired and tried to start it back up. Nothing!! Just one little clicky sound and it was dead. I was never more thankful for my son's cell phone in my life!! Normally he drives me a little crazy with the thing. A very dear friend came and rescued us from the cold and being abandoned in a dark parking lot. Yep, more trusting. I'm not going to cave now!!

So by last night I needed a good long soak in the tub! I never ended up getting it physically, but got one by making my card. I used Hambo's stamp of a calm and serene lady taking a good long soak. Doesn't she look comfy!?

She's stamped with Stazon Jet Black and then water colored with my pencils. I added a little doodling at the bottom so it looked like she wasn't floating in the air.

The dp in the background was some I got free in a package of chipboard. Isn't it pretty? I thought it looked like old-fashioned wallpaper.

I popped her image up on pop dots and added those cute flower brads from Spare Parts. It doesn't show too well in the photo, but I also added some Accent Glaze on the bubbles to make them look a little shiny. Added some dimension too.

I may try and get that long soak tonight. Every time I look at her I long for it. Will have to see. But we did get some very good news. Our oldest son found out that he is now a Certified Pharmaceutical Technician because of his old job he just lost. So he can get a job at any pharmacy in the state now and get much higher pay because of his training. He found out it was equivalent to a two year college degree. How awesome is that?! And then I found out that I sold a lot of things on e-bay higher than I thought I would. I guess it pays off to keep on trusting!! Oh and this morning, my husband went out to look at the van. It started right up. LOL!!

Have a great rest of the week! I plan to. I plan to keep on trusting too!! Thanks for stopping by and visiting.

Such a Blessing!

I seem to have a very bad habit of getting here much later than I would really like to. Something I have to work on I believe. It has been a busy weekend. But then most of our weekends are somewhat busy. I have to say that most of the time it is a good busy too.

But I did take a few minutes to get a little stamping in. I love doing the SCS Featured Stamper each week. I love to see the different galleries that I might not have looked through before. I tend to look through the galleries of stampers whose work is similar to mine. So by doing the Featured Stamper I am seeing things I might not have and loving it!

I chose a House Mouse stamp this week. I really do love those little mice, have for years!! Isn't this little guy peeking out over the edge of the tea cup too cute?!

I stamped him with Stazon and then water colored it with pencils and my trusty favorite brush. If that brush ever gets lost I don't know what I'll do. Not like I don't have others, it's just my favorite!

The panel directly behind the mouse I used my Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots folder on. It doesn't show too well in the photo, but it really gives some good texture to the card.

All the paper is from Creative Memories. I think I'll be working through my stash of CM paper for a good 10 years!! Okay, maybe not that long, but it will be a while.

I am very thankful for being able to stamp and for all the wonderful blessings that the Lord has given to me. I often think about where I would be without Him and it usually comes out the same answer; nowhere. I truly believe I wouldn't even be alive now if I didn't have Him in my life. What blessing He is to me!!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Make sure you leave me a comment. I love to see what you all have to say!!

A Quick Post!

Just posting a card tonight. Very tired and have a lot to do tomorrow. Cleaning the church and running some errands. Card was for the SCS Inspiration Challenge. We were to go to the Skeem store for inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll try and post more tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend.

A Couple Of Good Challenges For me!

I am so glad to be able to get here today. All day yesterday I had the worst migraine. So very glad that seems to be over. Unfortunately I get them more often that anyone would like to. But I have learned to live with them somewhat. You have to or you would just shut down.

Had some time this evening to work on a few cards. It felt good to focus on something else instead of my head!

The first one is from the SCS Sketch Challenge this week. I thought it was a very good challenge and wanted to do another card for it. i love this image of the mouse on the thistle. It has been one of my favorites for many years. Took me forever to find it and when I did I grabbed it up quickly!

I stamped the image with Stazon and then water colored. Did a little accent with colored pencils too.

In the background I did some paper piercing in the corners. And I only used 4 brads from Spare Parts on the card. Both dp's are from Paper Loft.

I really like how it turned out. I'm not sure yet who or what it is for, but it won't take me too long to figure that out at all.

My second card is for the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. We were limited to 1 wheel, 1 image, 1 sentiment & 1 embellishment. You know that is not as easy as you might think. If I didn't have to think about not using things I could have done it with no problem, but when I started thinking about it I wanted to use this or that. Well it got harder than I realized it would. So I would say it was very good for me to have the limit.

I used the SU Dry Brush Wheel for the background paper using Ranger Distress Vintage Photo Ink. I stamped the main image using Stazon and water colored it. The little sentiment in the corner is from the SU Warmest Regards set. The colors in the photo are a little off. The background paper is an olive green and the ribbon is a dark olive green. Sorry!!

It was so easy to use the wheel and I forget how easy it is! It is one of those tools you have sitting around and tend to forget about. So I may just have to keep it our right under my nose for a few days to remind me to use it more often.

Hope your day has been good so far. Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me!!

Happy Render Unto Caesar Day!!

I know that title sounds funny. But I heard it from someone else referring to tax day and just thought how appropriate it was! (Refer to Matthew 22:21) So there you have it. I am not particularly fond of tax day, but it is a day that everyone has to deal with and to be obedient to God we must sometimes do things we don't want to, like pay taxes. So off to the post office we go today as we owe the government this year. Ouch!

But owing taxes did not stop me from enjoying our company today. We had a wonderful time. I don't think I have laughed so much in a long while. All evening we played table games and joked around. I think at one point there were several of us almost in tears from laughing so hard. A good place and state of mind to be in! Aren't you thankful we do have a sense of humor. Life would be kind of dull without it.

Owing taxes also did not stop me from attempting to make a card today. I snuck away for a few minutes to try my hand at the SCS Sketch Challenge. This is the first time I have used this large leaf stamp (aprox 4"x5"). I've had it for a long time, just staring at it from time to time wishing I had the nerve to use it. So tonight I finally bit the bullet and here you go!

I used a special glossy paper I got from Stampland Stamps. The leaf stamp is from the same company. I inked it up with Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight ink and stamped it on the glossy paper. The thing about this paper is that no matter what ink you use it WILL NOT SMUDGE!! Yep, you read that right. You can use any ink on this glossy paper and it won't smudge. I love using it and dole it out sparingly.

After I stamped the leaf I smudged all around the edges with a cosmetic sponge using SU Old Olive and More Mustard inks. I wanted to keep the white paper from looking so stark. I then stamped the sentiment from Stamp Studio, Inc with SU Chocolate Chip. All the other paper is from Creative Memories. The maple leaf brads are from Spare Parts.

This is one of those cards that I am not too sure of. The jury is still out. So be gentle with the comments!! LOL!!

I hope you are able to get through our infamous tax day, or as I call it Render Unto Caesar Day, with few hassles. Thanks for stopping by again!!

Clean and Simple???

Well I had to ask the question, all because of a challenge on SCS, clean and simple. Is that what life has been for me over the past few days? A little yes and a little no!

I have been very grateful for the privilege of celebrating Easter and with my family. The weather, although cold has been fairly nice. My husband is feeling much better (thanks to any of you who have been praying for him!) Everyone has been in really good moods.

But I forgot how much more work it is with even one more person in the house. Living in a parsonage very, very close to the church we have a lot of people stop by often. Mind you not all the same people!! We are also on a main highway, so very visible and people passing by who need help will frequently stop too. So keeping the house at least in some semblance of order is important to me. I'll admit it, I can be a clean freak!! Not a "no clutter" freak. Just a clean freak. Hey a girl has to have some clutter!! But dirt and grime, eeewww!!

We even have lots of our boys friends stop by often, like this week. They just pop in to say hi and often stay for quite a while. I really like that, but like I said, I tend to forget when I am all settled into my routines how much more work it is to have extras around.

Then I remember what a blessing those "extras" are! I'll take the messes, the increased clutter, the dirty pile of dishes, a few more shoes behind the couch than usual any day!! Having those around me reminds me of just how blessed we are as a family to have so many wonderful friends who are like family to us. I am so thankful!

So what made me think of all this? Well the SCS Clean and Simple Challenge! This week we were to make a card that is monochromatic. I was excited because I have been saving a few special scraps of paper for ages (one of those small bits of clutter a girl has to have!). So I finally used them and love what came from them.

I don't remember where most of the paper came from, but some is origami paper, and some from Creative Memories. Both of the lighter dp's have little dragonflies on them.

Both of the stamps I used are from Hero Arts. I love the dragonfly!! I have used him a lot and it looks like it. The wood of the stamp is quite discolored from all the use. Both the dragonfly with Chinese script and the sentiment are Stamped in Stazon Jet Black.

I water colored just a little and then accented with colored pencils. And to spice up the card a little I added just a touch of clear embossing powder on his wings. I used Ranger Super Fine Clear Embossing Powder.

I hope you like my card today! I also hope you are thankful for all the "extras" that happen at your house. Let them remind you how blessed you really are!!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by again!

A Blessed Resurection Sunday

Our Easter weekend was wonderful!! Actually we prefer to call Sunday Resurrection Sunday, because that is what we are really celebrating. The weather, although a bit nippy, was cooperative and the sky was just lovely. A lovely spring day!! And best of all I got to spend it in church worshiping my Lord and celebrating the fact that He is alive!! What more could a girl ask for.

Our oldest son made it up. He will be here for a few days. One of his best friends is coming in later. It will be nice to have them here for a short visit. They are so much fun to have around. Our youngest son loves having them here especially. He is very close to his big brother!

I was even able to get in making a card for the SCS Featured Stamper this week. it was fun trying to find a card to case but I managed it. Like I have ever had trouble making a card!!

I started with one of my favorite stamps, Maude in her bathrobe looking very pleasant! She cracks me up every time I look at her. I stamped her with Stazon and then water colored and accented with colored pencils. I think ti turned out pretty good. Of course I am partial too.

Maude is from Art Impressions. The sentiment that was also stamped in Stazon is from River City Rubber Works. I love that stamp company!! So many of their stamps are so nice and they stamp beautifully!!

Around Maude and the sentiment I drew little lines and hash marks just to set them off a little bit more. I think it helped frame them both well. I did the same thing on the inside where I mounted a piece of white card stock.

Most of the paper is from Creative Memories. The piece with the little flowers is from Stampin Up. The brads are from Spare Parts and Making Memories. The prima flowers are from Got Flowers.

Can't tell you how much fun it was to make and I know just who I am going to send it to. Her birthday is coming up in May! Hmmm, wonder if she will figure it out?

Thanks for stopping by again!

God's Handwriting!

What a wonderful day this has been. The first day of celebrating what it is our Lord came here to do for us because of His amazing love for us. Even though the weather wasn't exactly pleasant today, it was still just beautiful outside. This evening I was able to enjoy the full moon. What a sight it was. The clouds were drifting by it and made the brightness just slightly misty looking. It was just stunning to see!

So I was feeling creative by the time I checked out the SCS Inspiration Challenge for today. We were supposed to go to Grandin Road on the web and get some inspiration for the items they have for sale. My Inspiration was In The Breeze All-weather Art Print. It was tough though to pick just one thing. There were so many to choose from that I really enjoyed.

What I did first on my card was to take a rectangle stencil from Rubber Stamp Tapestry and stipple Color Box Chalk ink on white card stock. I made 4 rectangles, two of each color, Ice Blue and Bisque.

Then I stamped the dandelion from Penny Black in Stazon Jet Black ink. I stamped twice with each inking. Then I heat set the ink to make the chalk permanent.

The sentiment is from Stampin Up. It is from a hostess set called God's Beauty. It says, "Beauty is God's Handwriting." from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

All of the paper is from Creative Memories. The grosgrain ribbon is from Stampin Up.

I'm not sure who the card is going to be for. I usually have an idea as I am making a card. But I often need cards at the last minute so like to keep lots that are sort of generic on hand. So this one will fit that bill easily. I could make it for a lot of different occasions.

I am looking forward to spending time with some friends this afternoon and then my family tonight. It should be a wonderful day. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Thanks for stopping by!!

Flower Pot Pocket Card

Wow I am getting to this much earlier than usual.

Our oldest son was able to get his car going today and has been able to get back to his own home. He will hopefully be able to keep this one running until he can save up enough for a new car. We are praying to that effect.

My sweet husband is very sick. In fact he is so sick he cancelled prayer meeting tonight. He normally doesn't do that kind of thing. He will usually go to work even wen he is sick. kind of stubborn!! Hoping he gets over this soon. he is supposed to work this weekend at his part-time job as well as having services for Easter. His part-time job is as a security guard. Since he is the part-time guy, he doesn't get the chance to pick and choose his holidays or any days off. So he has to work even though he will be preaching as well. It makes for a long weekend.

So that to say that we don't have any big plans for this weekend. Since we live over 400 miles from any family it will just be the four of us, barring any more car problems for our oldest son! I have gotten used to having holidays without family around after this many years. We haven't lived neat family since we first got married. We usually adopt others to join us, but this year we aren't because of the work schedule.

I hope all of you are able to celebrate this weekend in a very special way. It is one of our favorite holidays!! What a special thing to celebrate, the Risen Saviour!!

Was able to play for a bit today making a card. I finally got a chance to do the SCS Technique Challenge from Monday. it is the most adorable little flower pot pocket card!! the tutorial for it is here : Flower Pocket Card. It is easy to make and turns out so nice!! On SCS they have some wonderful samples in the gallery.

I decided to make mine a little rustic. Was inspired by someone else from another challenge. I made what she calls, lollipop flowers. I had made a version of them a long time ago and was so excited to see them again! They are fun to do and look so cute! Here is where you can learn to make them: Lollipop Flowers. They work great on cards and in scrapbooks as well as on altered art pieces! So fun to do.

Here is the card I made. Isn't it just too cute? They look so cheery and you can do so much to them. What a fun version of the pocket card they are.

I thought I should show you the part that pulls out too. It just makes the whole card. I hope you will try and make one or two of these. They are just too cute!!

Hope your day was a good one. Thanks for stopping by again!!

A Beautiful Spring Day!

This has been such a beautiful spring day!! Even though it started out cold and a little spitting of snow, the sun came out and it was a lovely day. I even took a few minutes to play outside. I decide to sweep off our porch so people would quit dragging in old pine needles from outside. We have quite a few big pines near the house that shed like crazy. They get tracked all through the house and I seem to find them by getting them stuck in one of my feet. I can tell you that is NOT fun!

Since I was outside sweeping the porch it lead to sweeping all the steps and then sweeping some of the patio, which lead to getting the lawn rake and raking out around a couple of small bushes near the porch, which lead to pulling up a few dead stems, which lead to gathering up lots of small pine cones, which ........ I think you get the idea. I was only out for about 15 minutes, but it did me a world of good as well as the appearance of the house and yard! It was nice to breathe fresh air and look to see what things are poking their heads up out of the soil now. I have had daffodils and narcissus blooming for a while. I noticed today that my iris have bloom stems already. Can hardly wait for them. One I have is a lovely pale pink with the most fragrant bloom!

Our oldest son is here. His old car died and he had another one here. So he is getting it ready to be on the road. It has been an adventure for him with his old car. Unfortunately he had to miss work a few days because the thing died and he had no other way there. But with a some rearranging plans and helping him figure stuff out we think he will be settled with more reliable transportation. He is getting it plated tomorrow.

After a long and full day I really needed to do something creative, so I worked on the SCS Sketch Challenge for the week. Having a sketch is a great place to start and to get the creative juices flowing.

I used a flower stamp from Hero Arts. It was part of a set of four different flowers. It is stamped with Stazon Jet Black ink. I colored it with watercolor pencils.

The other stamp I used is from Magenta. it too is stamped in Stazon Jet Black. I smudged around both of the stamped images using Stampin Up's Baja Breeze ink.

The large piece of light colored paper is a piece from the stamping store I worked at. It came to the store as a sample and is pre-embossed with flowers. Unfortunately I don't know what the name of the company is. But I have seen similar paper in special packages at Hobby Lobby.

I also got to use some of my origami paper stash. I love doing origami and have a bad habit of hoarding the paper. So I force myself to bring it out every now and then. It is so pretty!! And since it is so thin it doesn't add a lot of extra thickness or weight to the cards.

There are three little blue gems on there too. The ribbon is velvet. It just really added to all the different textures on the card. The large square, the flower and the sentiment are all popped up for dimension.

I made the card for my husband. I am giving him a card a week for our 25th anniversary. It's been fun doing that!!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have had a wonderful day and that the Lord has blessed you abundantly!

Welcome To My Stamp & Craft Room!

No card for all of you today. It has definitely been a Monday. I'm sure you all know what i mean. The phone rang like crazy and it just seemed like everyone needed everything all at the same time. Thank goodness for Tuesdays!! LOL!!

I did tell you I was going to share some of my craft room with you. I love my little nook, little being the operative word. But it is mine and I have filled it with my stash. I love playing in my room. A peaceful place for the most part.

We start by going in the door. I am greeted with a fun sight, my bulletin board. On it are cards that have been sent to me by friends. I love looking at it for inspiration and ideas, but mainly because it reminds me how much I am loved!

To the left of the door when I come in is my 8 1/2 x 11 paper storage. I also store all my very special papers in the rack, ones that I can't reorder or need to be away from much light. Can you believe I got the unit for nothing? My old boss from the stamping store gave it to me. She blessed me with a lot of things!!
On top of that you can see I have several drawer sets that hold some of my individual stamps. Some of my favorite stamps are stored there.

Here is a closer look at the top. The large tray on top of the shelves is an old multiple bread baking pan. I use it to store all of my large background stamps. You can't really tell from the photo, but the stamps are two deep in most of the four trays.

To the right of the drawers are glass jars that I keep all kinds of fun things in that I use for altered art, or just for whatever. There's also a big jar of ribbon in the back.

Going around the paper storage you see the end of my first table. Hooked on the bottom is part of my ink storage. It's an old cassette tape holder . Works great for a lot of my ink. My thicker ink pads like Color Box Chalk are in drawers on the table. You can see the side of the drawers actually. On the end of the table I have one of the build it yourself cube racks for my 12x12 paper. Hanging on the side of that are holders for magazines I found at a place I used to work in the trash. They hook on the wires and hang off of each other. I keep current magazines and catalogs in there, plus idea books I want very handy.

You can see I also hang all kinds of things off the racks too. It has sort of become the catch-all. If it can hang up, I hook it on to get it up off the desk & to not leave it just laying around to get messed up.

So now we are going to continue left again and here is what we see. The rack for my 12x12 paper. Next to it is are clear paper storage slots that I keep all my 12x12 scrapbook pages, etc. in. There are a few slots that have specialty papers in them too.

It's hard to see by the brown thing under the paper storage is actually two old drawers from a treadle sewing machine. That is where I store the rest of my inks. It works great. Most of those I don't use as often and they sit perfectly in the drawers.

You can also see two sets of drawers that hold the rest of my individual stamps in the corner. They are all organized by subject.

On top of the paper storage is a box with small SU stamp sets and precut shapes of paper. I didn't have anywhere else to store those things so up they went. Has worked great so far.

Under the table is where I store all my Creative Memories paper. I have a huge stash from my days as a consultant. And they fit perfect under there in file box containers turned sideways.

Moving to the right here is what you see, some of my misc supplies. On top are notebooks with ideas. There are containers with all my embellishments, scrapbooks I am currently working on, punches and more. The drawer unit in the far corner is for all kinds of misc craft things that I don't get into very often. it is just more convenient to store them way out of the way like that instead of trying to move around them in the small space!!

I think you can tell that I have utilized every inch I can in the room!

And here is my desk. This is where I do most of my work. I keep my pens, markers, watercolor pencils, brushes, glitter, ep's, adhesives, pretty much all those items you want to get to quickly.

Sometime maybe I'll take a close up view of the different areas of my desk. My favorite things on there are the storage pieces you can get from Rubbermaid in office supply stores (although I got most of mine at a big discount kind of place) They connect together and hold things so well. They are clear so you can really see what is where! I have 11 pieces and wish I had more! Most are cubes, some are double cubes, some have drawers. So handy!!!

To the right of that is more of the supplies I use mostly for altered art. But I keep my trimmers and envies and fibers here too!

There are more of those build it yourself cubes that I store a most of my SU stamps on. Next to it is a notebook with unmounted rubber stamps. Under it in a special container you can't see I keep my acrylic stamps, Cuttlebug, all the folders and Nesties. On top of the shelves are magazines that I have wanted to keep. I don't keep them all. Where would you store them all in a small room? But they are ones I particularly like and enjoy going back to over and over.

Also up there on top are special antique cards I use for different projects. I admit I am a paper hoarder/addict. I love paper and when I see neat pieces I usually buy it. I love to scrounge around yard sales and second hand shops. I find the neatest things!!

Well there you have most of the room. I didn't show you under the bulletin board. That is where the computer is. It's to the right of that last picture I showed you. And to the right of that are shelves with my husbands things and office supplies. I have lots of reference books there too. Very handy. It's all pretty compact, but it works. It's kinda cozy even if it is cramped. I love to shut myself up in here and turn on some music and create. It's where I also study my Bible. A nice, quiet and relaxing room. Thanks for stopping by! I'll make a pot of coffee next time!

He Loves The World That Much!

Today was just a wonderful day worshiping the Lord. Even though the weather was cold, wet and snowy I really enjoyed the whole day so much. Sunday School was a time of good discussion and learning. The ladies and I really enjoyed our study on Rahab today. We were comparing her faith to the same kind of faith that Abraham had as it was mentioned in James and Hebrews. We all enjoyed ourselves that hour.


And then, if I say so myself, the Pastor was right on with his message today. It was on the Last Supper. We also shared Communion at the end of the service. What a blessed time of fellowship. Yes, I know I am kinda partial to that Pastor, but then 25 years of marriage will do that!


After morning service we went out to lunch with some good friends. we just enjoyed each others company and the good food. Lots of laughter and good talk for sure while we ate.


Evening service was a continuation on our verse by verse, sometimes word by word study of Mark. We have been in the book for over a year and we are only on Chapter 5. It has been a very thorough and deep study.


But despite my good day, my dear husband is not having such a good one. As the day progressed he kept feeling worse and worse. He has a full blown very bad cold. I feel so bad for him, just achy and chills, coughing and wheezing. Doing my best to care for him, but this one is bad. So lots of rest and plenty of liquids, and the occasional pill to help get things cleared out.


I did get a chance to make a card for SCS Clean and Simple Challenge after I got him tucked into bed. The card was something I made form bits and pieces I had already stamped for samples when I was working at a stamping store. So I just put them all together. To me it was like using any sheet of dp, only I made mine over 2 years ago.

The background is the Frosted Filters technique. It's one of my favorites to do. No two are alike. Directions on how to do it yourself can be found here. It's really easy, but can be kinda messy so be forewarned.

The piece right behind the puzzle bit is mullberry paper that I stamped with Versa Mark and heat embossed with gold ep. The stamp is from Stampers Anonymous and is called Two Way Script, one of my favorite stamps for sure!

I stamped the puzzle piece from Gina K on to cream card stock with SU More Mustard ink. Then I stamped the eye on it with Archival Jet Black. They eye is from Serendipity Stamps. I colored it with colored pencils and added a clear gem to the center. The Bible verse, part of John 3:16, is from Stampabilities. Everything is smudged with Rangers Distress Vintage Photo ink.

To me the card is quite symbolic. The eye represents God and His sadness over the sin of man. He loved us so much that He sacrificed His only Son to die for our sins. That's a love, amazing love! So that is why I put the verse, John 3:16, on there. The puzzle piece shows how it is such a mystery, puzzle, to me how God could love us that much to send His Son. The flag brad at the top represents how that love of His isn't going anywhere, it's set in place for all eternity. Isn't that wonderful?! The twine is for how we are bound to Him eternally after we accept Christ as our Saviour. I like that part, just knowing I will spend eternity with my Lord is something amazing!! Praise Him!!

Thanks for coming by again. I'm glad you did. Have pictures of my craft room I will be sharing tomorrow. Hope you come back to peek.

Peep Killers?????

Well I had to add just one more thing for all of you! I am a Dork. Yep I freely admit it. I am. I even belong to a bunch that calls themselves The Travelin Dork Sisters. We are quite the group of women. We have a lot of fun and we are very close as friends.

Over the last few years we have been having fun at this time of year because of a certain recipie that we all like to use and share. It involves Peeps. Yep, those marshmallow critters we all love to eat, but don't often like to admit.

You need to check out one of my Dork Sister Lori's blogs to see the story behind the Peeps and the Peep Killers. It's well worth the read.

Start with this one: Peep Killers Anonymous - Exposed!!!

Then finish up here: Follow Up On Peep Killing

I hate to admit it but I supplied the photo of the Peeps in the last post. Not proud of it, but I did. LOL!!

And just in case you are wondering what the recipie is, well here you go!

Peep Smores
Peep Smores Ingredients in the Jar:
Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs and layer 2/3 of the crumbs in a 1 qt. jar.(1 1/2 cups crumbs)
Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around the inside of the jar pressing them against the glass, but don’t squash them.
Carefully, spoon remaining crumbs in the center of the jar to support the bunnies, pressing down to keep it snug.
On top of this pour 1 ½ c. Easter M&M’s.
Spoon 1/3 c. br. sugar into center of M&M’s, gently pressing with a spoon.
Decorate the lid of the jar however you please…tie curly ribbons around the neck of the jar.
Include these directions:
Directions: Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture and mix well. Melt ½ c. butter plus 2 tbsp butter, add 1 t. vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
*Option: leave the bunnies whole; combine remaining ingredients and place the bunnies on top; then bake as directed

The picture is from another Dork Sister, Beth! Thanks Beth!

I suppose now you can join Peep Killers Anonymous!! I'm such an enabler. Have fun with those Peeps!

Taking Care Of My Birds!

Phew am I tired!! I had a good day, even though the guys in my house were getting on my nerves. They do that from time to time. But I was able to get a lot done. I am thankful for that! I cleaned in my craft/stamp/scrapbook/office room. Yes, it's like most of you, that very multipurpose room where we steal every bit of space we can to do our thing with paper! The room looks so much better. I even dusted. Now that's clean!

One thing I got done was something I do every year around now. I try to help out all the birds in the area with nesting material. When our boys were younger we used to empty their Easter basket grass and let the birds have it. (Of course we always used the paper grass, never plastic!) Now that my boys don't get baskets anymore I use my suet holder instead. This picture shows what I do.

The suet holder is hanging from one of our lilac bushes (more tree though it is so big), full of paper Easter grass and yarn pieces of all sorts. I tend to find skeins of yarn that are clearanced to use for fibers on my cards and crafts. So I have lots of small skeins to share with my bird friends.

Oh in the background of the picture is the church my husband is the pastor of. I'm standing next to our parsonage. Yes, we live that close!

Every year I watch for nests that fall from trees and see if there are pieces of what I have provided for them. Very often I find bits I left out. So I enjoy doing this for them. God gave us some beautiful creatures to enjoy here on Earth. So I take every advantage to do that!

For today's card I worked on the SCS Featured Stamper Challenge. There were a lot of cards to choose from, but I chose this one by Julie. She is an amazing stamper!

My card is much simpler than hers. She went into a lot more detail. I just wanted to have fun with mine and do it quickly. So instead of using textured paper like she did I used dp from Creative Memories. The balloons were made with the Creative Memories 1 1/4" Circle Maker and a small heart punch. They turned out cute didn't they?

The stamp is from Hero Arts. I've had it for a long time and it often comes out for birthday cards. The thing has been used so much that the color of the wood on the back is not really wood color anymore!

Well in the morning we have church. I will be teaching the ladies Sunday School class. We are studying women of the Bible right now. This week (and several before) is on Rahab. It's been a very good study. So I need to get some sleep.

Thanks for stopping by again! Don't forget to sing my guest book clear at the bottom.

To One Of My Favorite Peeps!

Today was a nice quiet day. I really like those days, especially when it falls on a Friday. I got to spend the whole day just puttering around the house and doing small projects I have wanted to do for a while. I would call that a very productive day!

I did get to work tonight on the SCS Inspirations Challenge. We were to go to the web site of French Bull Store. What an interesting site and a challenging site to find inspirations for a card! It was fun looking through all the neat things they carry in their store. This is what inspired me, the Felix Platter. To me it just said "Chicken Wire"! So I immediately thought of the background stamp and several chicken stamps I have.

And well here you have what I came up with from that platter. I love the little chicken stamp I used. She has on the biggest shoes. I just smile every time I see those spindly legs in those giant shoes!! She, as well as all images, were stamped in Stazon Jet Black ink. I water colored her and just added a smidge of accent with colored pencils. She and the panel behind her are popped up to give some dimension. Then I added brads, twill ribbon and a spiral clip.

Oh the chicken stamp is from Stampotique Originals. The chickenwire background is from Judikins. The sentiment is from A Muse Artstamps. Spiral clip and brads are all from Spare Parts.

I made the card for a very dear friend, just to encourage her. Hope she likes it! Hope you like it. Thanks again for spending some time with me!

I Made Them Look Twice!!

The ladies meeting at church went over like a lead balloon, well at least the food did! It was so much fun to see the faces of the ladies when they got to see the food my friend and I provided for them. You see our menu went along with our lesson on deception. Things are not always as they seem, including the food! We served them Dirt Pudding with gummy worms hidden inside and Kitty Litter. Yep, Kitty Litter. It's disgusting looking!!!! But boy is it yummy! Here is what the cake looked like. Is that not the most disgusting cake you have ever seen?! The "lumps" are actually pieces of slightly melted and reshaped Tootsie Rolls. It's served in a real cat litter tray with a real cat litter scoop. Of course they were new and carefully washed!! I have to say the ladies looked twice, but they all tried it. I was so proud of them!! They liked it too once they got past the looks.

We also had table gifts for them. I think it sort of made up for the nasty looking food. They were fake ice cream sundaes. I made them by simply rolling up wash cloths in different ice cream colors and putting them in clear plastic cups. Add a straw and a cherry (pompom) and you have a sundae. We had all kinds of "flavors" for them to pick from. Now those they thought were just too cute!!




This one is supposed to be coffee, chocolate and French vanilla ice cream. Neat looking isn't it? Those flavors sound like they would be pretty good tasting too.


We had a lot of fun talking about how many things in our lives and many people we meet are really not what they seem to be at first. Once we get to know the people or learn more about circumstances around us they aren't at all what we first thought. It's important that we filter things through the eyes and ears of Christ so we see what is truth and what is deception.


I do think the ladies are going to think twice from now on about any food I bring over to the church. They may second guess what kinds of things I may have put in the dish. But then one lady offered to swap recipies with me. She has one for kitty litter cookies. Now those sound interesting!!

I do have a card for you too. Much different from what we were just talking about. Thank goodness for that! I made it for the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. It's called Easy as 1 - 2 - 3. We were to use one color of card stock, 2 patterned papers and 3 embellishments. The color of card stock I chose was Olive. The patterned papers are from Basic Grey. I just love them. The three embellishments I used were ribbon, brads and photo corners.



The stamp is from Stampington and Company. It was stamped with Stazon Jet Black ink and then I water colored just the girl. I love the antique looking brads from Spare Parts I used. They just add to the old fashioned look of the girl and paper. I distressed the edges of the paper she is stamped on and then smudged it with Stampin Up Old Olive ink.


Thanks for stopping by again, and promise if you ever come by my house the food will look a whole lot better than that cake up there!!

It's Been One Of Those Days!

It's been one of those days. I'm sure you know what I mean, too much going on and then one of your kids is sick. That's been my day. I did get a lot accomplished, but it seemed to drag on and on. I'm thankful they don't come along everyday!! My youngest son has had a very bad cold for a few days. Monday he decided he needed to have a high fever to go along with it. So we had been fighting that fever until late this morning. Finally broke! He's doing a lot better, but sure scared us for a while. 103-104 is nothing to take for granted.

I have just one card today. This is for the SCS Clean and Simple Challenge. A clean an simple card is just that. You aren't supposed to use a lot of layers, if any, and keep your embellishments to a minimum. There is also supposed to be a lot of open space on the card.

So here is my card. The image is from American Art Stamps. It was drawn by Emerson Quillin. I love the work he does. The images usually crack me up and give me a good smile.

I did a quick watercolor of the girl and then simply mounted her on the paper. The strip behind her is pierced, but seems to be a little difficult to see in the picture. Gonna have to work on that I guess. Photography has not been my strong suit. The brad is from Spare Parts.

I really enjoy making simple and quick cards from time to time. If every card took a long time I would never get enough done. As a Pastor's wife, I send out a lot of cards, so quick is always good!

Thursday is going to be another busy day for me. Have a ladies meeting at church and a dear friend of mine and I are in charge of the program and refreshments. Since it is so close to April Fool's Day we have a lot of "fun" things planned for them. Should be a good night!

Thanks for joining me today!

What Were You Thinking???

Welcome!! I finally did it, my own blog. I have no idea where this is going to go or how it is going to go, but here I am. I find it odd that I would start, of all days, on April Fool's Day. Considering how much I enjoy a good practical joke or a good laugh I guess it is appropriate that I would begin today. Hopefully I will learn this quickly and you will enjoy reading along.

I have two cards to share with you today. The first is based on the sketch challenge on SCS. Rox, the host decided to play an April Fool's joke on us and gave us a crazy sketch to do. Of course it wasn't the real one. The card I did is based on the "real" sketch. The stamp of the exasperated woman is from Art Impressions. Isn't she a hoot!! The sentiment is from Stampabilities. I stamped both with Stazon Jet Black Ink and colored the image with watercolor pencils, accenting with colored pencils. She really looks like she is wearing jeans doesn't she?


The background paper is from Creative Memories. Once upon a time I used to be a consultant for them. Have a BIG stash of supplies yet from those days. I used my Cuttlebug on the right side of the card. The folder is Spots & Dots.


My second card I did for the weekly event held at Cindy's place, The Tea Party. We had a blast this week. If you have never joined us you really should. All kinds of things happen there and you never know who may show up!


The rose script image is from a company that no longer is in business, Stamp Rosa. It's a shame, they had beautiful things. I stamped it first in Stazon Jet Black Ink and water colored it. I think the highlights turned out pretty good on this one.

The little butterfly from Stamp Affair I stamped with Stazon as well. It was water colored and then I outlined it in gold with a Creative Memories Elements Pen.

All the paper is from Creative Memories as well. I love their paper and have that big stash to go through. Which as much as I love, somedays it slows me down. So many beautiful papers out there and so much guilt if I buy more with the amount I already have. Sigh!! The struggles of a paper-a-holic!

Thanks for joining me on this adventure.