Encouragement card take 2

I mentioned in my last post that I have been working on Encouragement cards. Well, this time I am doing things a bit differently, instead of mass producing a dozen of the same card I am only making 2 of each. (Tip- when making cards, it is just as easy to make two as it is one. After all a standard A2 card is HALF of a sheet of 8.5"x11" cardstock. If you don't need two at one time you can file one away for later.)

Following my own tip- I now have 2 of these cards to mail to friends. =) As you can see, Clean and Simple (CAS) is still my style. And as you can also see, CAS does not have to be boring! LOL (CAS also makes mailing easy too. No worrying about extra postage!! hee hee)
 I have used stamps from 4 different stamp companies on this one. Don't be afraid to mix and match!! The sentiment is another one for me to always remember- Don't tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is. A perfect encouragement sentiment.
Have a great day!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Encouragement card

Whenever I have a few spare minutes the week I find myself working on some encouragement cards. The ladies in my small group at church are going through some difficult times right now. A couple of them have lost loved ones in the past couple of months, there are health issues and family issues, you know-stuff that just drags you down. I hope the cards will help to encourage each of these lovely ladies and that they will know they are in my thoughts and prayers.
 I must admit, I have been struggling  too. It has been a huge adjustment for me the past 2 months, the sentiment on my card is one I need to remind myself of when things get rough. God's answers are wiser than our prayers. Trying to encourage others had done a lot to encourage me  this week. =)
I ♥ how the two stamp sets (from 2 different companies) go together. How cool is that?! Add a few Copics, some Nesties and a delicious ribbon and you end up with a clean and simple card.
If you get the chance- say a word of encouragement to someone today.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Good Timber

 Yesterday after dinner hubby loaded the kids up and took them to a small local park so I could have work time. It has been months since I last had "work" time, I was able to get some cards completed and some images ready for other cards. I need about a dozen cards for various reasons this week AND I have been asked to make a bunch of cards for a friend. I have to admit it was fun getting inky again!!

 Here is a Sympathy card, can you believe I need 3 Sympathy cards this week? 

For some reason I like using this tree for Sympathy cards. And for some reason I like using the "popping Pastels" technique with this stamp. (Popping pastels= Versamark ink and chalks)  I used  Versamark ink to stamp the Script background- that is always a classic look, tone on tone. Oh, can you see the score lines at the bottom of the card? 

Supplies- 

Stamps- Good Timber and Script Background (TAC)

Ink- Versamark

Cardstock- Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides (PTI)

Misc- Pebbles Earth tone chalks, Spellbinders Petite Oval/Scallop Nesties, Scor Pal, pop dots, Ocean Tides Swiss Dot ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!!

Until later~

And now she's 4!!

I am sad to say I am no longer momma to a 3 year old!! Today my baby is 4, my how time has flown by!!  July 26, 2006 a 7lb 7oz baby girl was welcomed into the world by the people who would love her the most. Today she is a little girl who is just starting to discover who she is and who she will become. My prayer is that she would be all that God has designed her to be. I am so blessed to be her momma!! I love you baby girl, Happy Birthday!!
Until later~

VBS Update

We have had a great week of Vacation Bible School!!  It has been crazy busy this week, but it has been a great week!! Our Family Fun Day will be on Sunday and that will close VBS 2010. We had 28 5 year olds and kindergartners. They were a great group of kids. It was fun to see the friendships develop over the week.
We had just over 250 kids each day. =) All of the money collected in the offering this week will go to buy school supplies for our school supply giveaway on August 7th. It was Boys vs Girls and they were tied both winning 2 days. They had brought  in $500 in pennies and change this week, and then this is the result of today's offering....

I hope you have had a good week. I am looking forward to getting my fingers inking on my own projects. LOL
Until later~

Everyday life 7/11

Vacation Bible School starts at 9 am tomorrow!! It is hard to believe that it is that time already, seems like yesterday we were doing the Boomerang Express!! This year we are headin' to the Saddle Ridge Ranch- Yee Haw!!
I am working in the pre-school craft room. We are going to have a blast!! We will be doing a variety of crafts this year, and working with some fun supplies. I just hope the kids have fun!!
My sweet hubby built a stable out of some old fence, awesome way to recycle. (And it looks so darn cute!!)
 

Here is the stable. It measures 15' long, and I got to use some of my smaller antiques as props. Didn't I tell you it was cute?

 Horses in the stable.

 My little scarecrow. I made this little guy about 12 years ago. I designed his framework to get him to hang on a single dowel rod. I hand painted his face. (In the fall I add some handmade homespun pumpkins to his soda crate wagon- which are sitting out VBS this year.)

 I am heading in early tomorrow morning to hang a clothesline from behind the lantern to the fence post. The bibs and flannel shirt with be hung on it. The kids like the washboard and iron (That thing is so heavy, thank goodness for modern electric ones!!) The iron basket holds a single chicken egg. Tomorrow we will add a small cowboy hat and boots to the antique chair. The ribbons will be added to the signs with horses' names- kind of like at the county fair. (BTW- The horses will be named Star and Blaze, perfect horse names, huh?) The milk can is on loan from one of our church members.

 A cast iron pot over a campfire, a true symbol of the American cowboy.

 This is a photo op are in the Daycare wing. The wooden barrel is on loan from Logan's a steakhouse here in Columbus. They use them to hold peanuts at the restaurant, it was so kind of them to let us use it!! Everything else in the picture came from a member's home.

 Ray and Jeanie are amazing story tellers for the school-agers. Jeanie found this rattler at Hobby Lobby, they have named him Rusty!! I would have gotten closer to get the picture- but I don't like slitheries!! LOL

This is a picture of the bunk house-it is actually the bus garage. I think the kids will love sitting on the straw!!

This is the covered wagon built by a very talented church member.

Bible school runs from 9-noon each day this week, so I doubt I will have much crafty time this week. I hope to have something soon to share.

Until later~

So much love

I have been on a scrapbook kick lately. I love that my page protectors are being filled and memories are making their way to paper. (I think this scrapping jag was brought about from my mom's sickness and passing. I have just been very sentimental lately.)
This picture was taken in March, it is of all 5 of "my" kids. I know I have mentioned before that I raised 3 before I was blessed with my own children. It was so cool that weekend to see how much each of "my" children loved each other!! I am very blessed to have each one of them and I am so proud of them.

 (The faces have been hid to protect the innocent. LOL)

As you can see, this one is not quit done- I need to get a large flower to layer on the circle. (Wouldn't you know I didn't have the right color. Oh well, I guess I need to do a little shopping. LOL) The Die cut cardstock had a large shamrock, I just covered it with other elements to make it work for this layout. 

Ready for "I Spy"?

The blue edge on the die cut- (it keeps the layers from looking "flat".)

Capital letters used within the title (tip: Mix lower case and capital letters in a fun way, I was out of lower case "e"s in this alphabet so a capital was used. I also started by placing the word love first and built my title backwards, this really helps with placement.)

a hand cut scallop

a coordinating cardstock strip punched with the Upper Crust punch

Small scrap of coordinating designer paper

5 tiny green "bling" on the corner of the photo (Tip- embellish your photos, it adds a polished look to your LO)

2 clear bling used to anchor the cardstock/designer paper layer

Inked edges (makes a smoother transition from one color to another)

yummy brown leaf ribbon

Until later~

Haileyism

My friends on Facebook have gotten to know my daughter through what I call 'Haileyisms". These are the sweet, innocent and often hilarious things that my 3 year old says. I have been told many times I need to write a book using her sayings, but this one from last week was so funny I had to scrap it.
 Hailey was sitting on the sofa and out of the blue this is what she told me--

Where she comes up with these things I will never know. LOL She keeps me my on my toes, and I wouldn't have it any other way!! =)
So, if you see any monsters just give me a call- I will send Hailey and her "stinky bloomers" right over. LOL
Until later~

Care for a little Sushi

I have been taking a Copic Card class at my Local Scrapbook Store. I have learned quite a bit about using my Copics, and I have made some cute cards along the way. In June the class was on coloring water and glass, sadly I missed that class. Karrie also demoed the Copic Airbrush technique, I hope she demos this again!!
She chose the Sushi stamp set and showed how you can manipulate the stamp to create other shapes.

Two cute little fishies in a round little fishbowl.

Here the fishbowl was stretched out to form a jar shape. (Hunter says it looks like a soda can. LOL)

The fish were "fussy cut"  and pop dotted.

Here is where the airbrush technique was used. (After coloring my fishes I used the Orange Spica Pen to give them a little shine.)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Until later~

Lazy River

Our whole family love the Lazy River!! I tell you it is so relaxing to float along without a care in the world. Hunter would have floated all day if we would have let him. LOL
 I used the Rusted Sun collection from Fancy Pants again. (By the way, this was the kit for June at Pizazz It! Scrapbooks, not only do you get awesome product to play with, BUT you get instructions for the Layouts too!! Thanks Karrie!!)

Embellishment cluster using cardstock stickers (also from the collection) and silk and paper flowers.

Cool pom pom trim. Pretty cute, huh?

The sun was "fussy cut" from one of the designer papers.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day to all of my US friends!! Yesterday we took the kids to our Independence Day parade, then fireworks at the park last night. Today we had church now just taking it easy. I hope you enjoy your day!!
Until later~

Water Works

I love this layout!! I love taking photos that are not staged, you know, where everyone stops whatever they are doing and poses for the camera. You can't see my son's face- but you can tell he is having a BLAST!! He was enjoying turning all the different wheels to re-direct the water for a couple of minutes. (And you have to love Sponge Bob smiling at you from the seat of his swim trunks!! LOL) I could have tried to get him to pose- but what fun is that? LOL
 I used the Rusted Sun collection by Fancy Pants for this layout. This one was super quick to put together. The scallops along the both are from the cardstock stickers that go with the collection. The "Heat Wave" strip is from the strip paper. (Those are so handy to cut apart and add coordinating accents to your projects.) I used a small hole punch to make holes along the left side of the yellow and white paper- then tore them to get that "notebook" paper look. The "Summer Fun" tab is another sticker from the collection, as is the star that is layered on it.  I layered some silk and paper flowers layered with a brad center. The rest of the flowers in that cluster were "fussy cut" from one of the designer papers. The title was added with alphabet stickers, and there is still room for some hand journaling. (Tip-Use embellishments to cover unwanted areas of your photos- like the blue and yellow flower on this layout is covering a person in the background. LOL )
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Havin' a blast

This LO features the Rusted Sun collection form Fancy Pants. The pictures were taken at  the Rubber Duckie Pond at Sesame Place. I think my pictures go so well with this collection. (I am all about finding the "right" papers to use with my pictures, that could be one reason I am not current with my scrapbooking. LOL)
 Ok, so other than the pictures, I think my favorite thing on this layout is the crystal swirls. I love how it "feels" like water.=) I altered it a little to achieve the I was going for, don't be afraid to make things work the way you want them to.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Final Old Glory LO

This is the final Old Glory LO. (Well, for now anyways. LOL) This is from our visit to see the Liberty Bell. Just as we cleared security the entire facility was placed on lock down. There was a medical emergency at the Bell, it took awhile for the squad to get there, but the building cleared out while we waited. (It was very HOT that day and someone had passed out.) It ended up there was maybe 10 people in there once we were able to get back to the bell. We all got to take our time and get lots of pictures.

Ribbon details. I love the glittered self adhesive circle and star ribbon. The glittered brads were added to the center of the stars. The airplane strip was from one of the designer papers in the collection, I clipped one end in a "v" for added interest.

Ready for  "I spy"? 6 brads, 5 staples, 5 designer papers, 3 ribbons, 2 hand cut circles, 2 strips of designer paper (the red strip is from the same paper as the airplanes), 2 star stamps (the red one above hubby's head and I used it and a star cluster stamped in Versamark on the tan cardstock) and one bling flourish.
 After playing with Old Glory this week and remembering our trip to Philadelphia I am ready to celebrate Independence Day!!
 Before I go I would like to wish a Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~