A Little Bit of Spring

For my card today I've used an old Stampendous stamp that I hardly ever use anymore.  I stamped it twice, colored it with Prismacolor pencils, and then cut out the flowers and added them on pop dots.  I cut out a window and backed it with some vellum that has a faint pink and green floral design.  I also used a cuttlebug embossing folder.  I stamped the sentiment, cut it out, and added it with pop dots, also.

I added the full image as an insert on the inside.

 
  I recently bought a distressing tool and it really does a better job then the scissors I used to use.

Thank you so much for visiting and have a blessed day!

challenges I would like to enter
Joan's Gardens:  create a 4.25 x 5.5 birthday card, use pink, green and some purple, include some distressed edges and add some piercing
Stampin' With The Dragon:  anything goes
Do You Stack Up Challenge:  ribbons
Shelly's Images:  text me (use sentiment on front of card)
PaperCrafting Journey:  floral
Moving Along With The Times:  blooming marvellous
Creative Inspirations:  anything goes











 

Hymn Challenge #2

The song chosen by Patter for this challenge is 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus', written by Helen Lemmel.   

Quite a few years ago, I experienced an almost paralyzing fear.   I finally asked our pastor for some special prayer and while we were praying, I 'saw' the Lord.  What an amazing experience!  The fear was completely gone and I felt radiant!      

There is nothing in this world that can compare to looking into the face of our Father and experiencing the incredible love He has for each one of us.  

The older I get, the more I long to see Him face to face.

Now I see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. 1 Corinthians 13:12   But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord.  2 Corinthians 3:18

As you can see, I paraphrased the verse from Psalms.  I always like to use personal pronouns to emphasize the relationship we have with our Lord.

This is done with a digital kit from a Christmas blog hop.

dbk_dst6 & 12pt_paper_traditions
ramona_bling_traditions
jencdesigns_traditions
bam_bow_lovebirds_button_traditions
adorn_leaves_traditions
aimeeh_rolled flowers_traditions

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!


 

Non-Traditional Valentine Colors

The challenge at Joan's Gardens this week is to use non-traditional colors.  I decided to go with blue and brown.  The DP is Life's Journey from K&Co.  I was intending to go to town to buy some roses but winter hit with full force and so I made a flower from some used dryer sheets.  The small flowers are painted with 'Sage' Creative Inspirations paint.  The die is Spellbinder's 'Contemporary Hearts'.  I placed two of the little punch outs on the ribbon.  The little rose and sentiment stamp is a dollar stamp from Michaels.

One of my goals this year is to keep my cards smaller.  I needed to add lace to my card but found that my card was beginning to look cluttered.  And then it occurred to me that I need to start decorating the inside of my card.  So I added the lace and my sentiment on the inside, as well as the optional key.

 Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Joan's Gardens challenge

• Create a Valentine in "non-traditional" colors
• Use some kind of lace
• Use a flower - rose if possible
• Use a key - optional

A Simple Valentine

I love making valentine cards, especially when they're pink.  For the background I used a heart embossing folder.  The lovely heart image is from Tammy at A Day For Daisies.  I added the word 'Amour' in Photoshop Elements (this is what I love about digital stamps) and then cut it out in a heart shape.  I used some glossy accents and a supposedly  red glitter pen on the heart image.  I have yet to find an actually red glitter pen. 

I added a Sizzix flourish, my crochet flower with a little rose bud, and my stick pin.  I then finished it off with some sheer ribbon.  The heart cutouts are part of the Sizzix flourish.

I love Cotton Candy Stickles!

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

challenges
A Day For Daisies: pretty pastels
Joan's Gardens: make a card or tag using some kind of hearts; use any kind of embellishment; use pink/red with white; some kind of embossing

Amazing Grace

A new year, a new beginning.  This year, instead of focusing on just one type of craft, I'm going to be trying lots of different things.

I'm not an artist, never have been, never will be.  But I love to experiment, and would you believe, I have never given myself the freedom to try something just for the fun of doing it.  So this is going to be my year for self-expression.  If others like it, that's an added bonus, but if not, that's O.K. also.

The one thing that I do really want to focus on is to participate in Patter's Hymn challenge which you can find here.   The first hymn is Amazing Grace.  I know this is a favorite of almost everyone.  Patter gave a link to a video of Wintley Phipps sharing about this song.  I was so blessed by this, I just have to share it.

I used to do a lot of digital scrapbooking but not so much anymore.  It's something I love to do and so I have decided to use this format for these challenges.  I am also working on an altered composition book where I will do my journaling, which I will share later.

When I think of the grace of God and how much He has forgiven me, it makes me ashamed when I fail to extend this same grace to the people around me.  They are dealing with the same human frailties that I am.  My prayer is that I will be much more gracious and forgiving than I have been.


Wishing each and everyone a very blessed and Happy New Year!
Hugs, Sarah

digital supplies
blue paper and border_4mbs_traditions_ppg5
red and brown mats_dbk_dst12pt_traditions
letter blocks_e-AlejasDesigns_traditions
bow and lovebird button_bam_traditions
frame_digilicious_traditions
rose cluster_aimee_traditions

First Apartment, First Christmas Tree=

A need for some Christmas ornaments.  So what does a crafty grandmother do but offer to make some.  And that is just what we did today.

But first things first.  Before she arrived, we received a phone call asking if we would please make some broccoli, noodle soup!   Her favorite food at grandma's house.  So grandpa went grocery shopping and then prepared some yummy soup.  Thank you, grandpa!

After a delicious meal, (by a cozy fireplace) we went to work.  I taught her how to use the Cuttlebug but she decided (after making several dozen scalloped circles) that it was too much work.  She didn't know how much work went into making ornaments, LOL!  It was a good experience.

She wanted to make some personalized ornaments for her friends and so we put pictures on the scalloped circles with pop dots and then added some stickles around the frames.

We also made some cones to hold treats, which she will hang on the tree.

Some rosettes with rhinestones and stickles and some baubles.

And a book page wreath.  We discovered these were really time consuming but very pretty when finished.

 And some TP roll stars with some more rosettes, rhinestones and lots of gold stickles!

After spending all day making ornaments, we were tired but very pleased with the results.  Are they perfect?  No, but we had a perfectly wonderful day together and I think that is the very best part of Christmas.

I wish for you an amazingly wonderful Christmas season!  Hugs,Sarah and Mercede

Alice In Wonderland Tea Holder

Our craft show is this weekend and a little bit of the craziness will be over, LOL!  I do love preparing for craft shows but it's still a bit stressful getting ready for it.

I thought I would take a quick moment and share a tea bag holder and gift bag that I made.  I used a tutorial from Tracy that you can find here.  I made several different designs but my favorite is the Alice In Wonderland design.

The images are from Crafty Secrets.  

 The gift bag is made from an envelope that has been scored along 3 sides and folded to make the perfect size to hold the tea bag card.

Just a few more items to make and then I'll be ready!  Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Side Step Christmas Card

These images are from A Day For Daisies.  As soon as I saw the child, I knew I wanted to use it for a scrapbook layout I want to do with a picture of my DGD reading the Christmas story when she was six.  For today, I used it to make a side step card.
 

The challenge at ADFD is to use something metallic.  The red dots on the snowflakes are 'Metallic Inspirations' from Creative Inspirations Paint.

I am still busy getting ready for our craft show so I will get back to work.

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Tinsel Christmas Card

Oh my, this little blog has really been neglected the last 2 weeks!  Getting ready for a craft show is taking every spare moment of my time.  Last year I said, "No more craft shows"!  But since this is in support of our local hospital, I thought I would participate.  It's a very small show so I think I can handle this.

So I thought I would share some of the things I'm making and maybe you can find some ideas you might like.  This card is a 'just for fun' card.  I didn't make very many since I have no idea if anyone would want to buy one, although everyone gets a chuckle from it.

There is a little baggie with some tinsel added, the font is highlighted with some red stickles, and I added a strip of red liner tape on the top to add some silver glitter.

On the inside I used a Spellbinders Labels 2 die to add a spot for a personal message.

And then there are 10 suggestions for how to recycle tinsel, LOL.

The idea for this card comes from a magazine I bought several years ago.  Come back next week and I'll share another one.  Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Inspired by Buttons

This week, at Creative Inspirations Paint, we are being inspired by buttons.  I am starting to get together some ideas for our craft show and this is one of the projects I'm considering.  It's a hot chocolate pouch.  I'm not sure I care for the design.  I was going for a partially melted snowman.  He's been painted with CI Paint 'Blue Ice' and his nose with 'Sunshine'.  And of course, he has 2 button eyes. 

 The back has this adorable image from Tammy at A Day For Daisies.  She's been colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I've also used a Martha Stewart border punch.

The ribbon is tucked down inside and looped around the hot chocolate to hold it in place.  When you pull the ribbon up it pulls the packet out. 

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Challenges I will enter
Crafty Cardmakers:  anything goes
Craft Your Passion:  anything goes/ribbon
Papertake Weekly:  anything goes/punch
City Crafter:  3D  (I'm not sure if this qualifies; if not, that's O.K., I won't be offended)
Ribbon Carousel:  anything goes/ribbon