Booksneeze Boook Review-

 Last week I requested the eBook Brush of An Angel's Wings by Ruth Reid from Booksneeze.  The story is about 20 year old Rachel, an unmarried Amish girl with no marriage prospects. She would rather be working in the barn or the fields than working on improving her cooking or sewing skills. The other main character is Jordan, the son of a former Amish mother and an absent English father. Jordan is struggling trying to find where he needs to be after his mother’s death. Although their lives are very different they do share some similarities which keep the story moving along nicely.

 I have read other books based on the Amish and find them quite entertaining after growing up in an area with a huge Amish population.  I was very surprised to find Brush of An Angel’s Wings was not like the typical Amish story. I found the inclusion of the two angels, one good the other fallen, to be a very good addition to the story line. I had a very hard time putting the book down once I started reading it. It was very easy for me to get caught up in the story line.

I received this book for free from the publisher through Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion.

Until later~

Book review- Constantly Craving Marilyn Meberg

We all have to deal with cravings, we find ourselves forever wanting more.  Constant Cravings: How to Make Sense of Always Wanting More by Marilyn Meberg  speaks about many of the cravings we have in common: wanting more, more romance, more from our relationships, more meaning in life along with several other relevant  cravings. Our cravings are written into our DNA. They are influenced by our childhood experiences. They’re driving the choices we make as adults. And often, they’re keeping us hungry. Never satisfied. Ever searching. – Marilyn Meberg

I appreciate that the author uses many of her own personal stories to get her point across. I realize I am not the only one facing these obstacles.  I especially enjoyed the reminders from scripture that I can overcome my own Constant Cravings.

While Constant Craving offers no new advice for someone who has a Christian background, the advice offered by Meberg could be very helpful to those without that kind of background.  I feel Constantly Craving would be a good choice for a book club or small group with lots of discussion.

I received this book for free from the publisher through Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion.

Until later~

Copic Grays- warms and cools

You're beautiful inside and out!! This is Cookie, a cute little mouse from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. She makes an adorable card. My cards today are pretty much the same, I just switched up the colors and used different embellishments.

I used Cookie and the lipstick tubes to work with the warm and cool Gray Copic markers. This was my first time working with the warms and I will definitely be reaching for them more often. Looks like the cool Gray will not be my "go to" grays now. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Oops a Daisy

A couple of months ago during the monthly release, I won this stamp set from Taylored Expressions!! Woo Hoo!! I was so excited because I had never won anything before. Let me tell you,  I can not tell you how much I love this set.

Oops a Daisy has both line stamps and solid stamps of the flowers. For this card I wanted to color the flowers, so I went with the line drawn flower. The good thing about this image is it is a very quick one to color or you can really spend some time and add a lot more detail.

I stamped the Daisy with black ink on white cardstock, colored them with Copic markers and finished off with some Diamond Stickles. I fussy cut them before adhering them to my card. (I fussy cut the flowers because I was too impatient to wait for the die to make it's home in my studio.) The stem and leaves are individual stamps which makes placement super easy when creating a bouquet. Because they are separate you can use a different color to stamp them. 

 

I have stamped and cut several of these pieces and let me tell you, I much prefer the dies to fussy cutting!! But you already knew that, huh? LOL

 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!! I appreciate you!

Until later~

Spring Cottage

I love the series of house stamps being released over at Taylored Expressions! I knew instantly when I saw this darling little cottage that I had to have it. 

Spring Cottage is paper pieced with small accents added with Copic markers. (Did you know you can use your Copic markers to color on designer papers? Pretty cool, huh?)

I used several dies to complete my landscaping, the Picket Fence border die, Fresh cut grass (which I cut twice and layered) and the Die-namics Cloud trio. 

I wanted my scene to look like a page from a child's story book, something without a lot of "fancy" details. (The small strip of blue was left at the bottom until I decided if I was to stamp a sentiment there or just trim it off.)

For the inside I stamped the cottage image again, leaving it uncolored this time. I added a couple of die cuts, continuing the look from the card front. I will added a sentiment to the roof of the cottage later, when I am ready to mail my card. I think even with the inside finished I still have ample room to add a personalized note. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Until later~

Circus Tent

My card today kind of sums up our lives lately- it's been a circus!! :-)  I am sorry I have abandoned my blog, I hope to post more often now!
 Although I intended for this card to be for a child, it would work for an adult too.
 

 The stamp set is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. (Sorry, I do not see it in their store.They do have the digital set available.) I used Copic markers and paper piecing on the tent. (Yea, you know how much I complain about fussy cutting- but look how cute it is once you are done!!) I added a couple more hand cut pieces to finish the card front.

 The inside needed some love too. I used the Corner Chomper for the oversize ticket, I like how it works with the theme of my card.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Our trip to the little farm of "misfits"

 My sister works with a lady who has a small farm and we needed to go there yesterday evening to pick up something so I took the camera along. But, just as we were ready to leave we got the smallest little rain shower- it didn't even last a whole minute, but look what it left behind....

You can not tell from this photo, but it was a double rainbow. For the first time ever we could see both ends of the rainbow. (LOL the funny thing is the ends were about 40 miles apart, and were no where near spanning the horizon.)

I walked out in the field to get this shot. I wish I would have had the bigger lens on the camera!

On our way to the farm we saw a momma skunk (Miss Tina said her babies are usually following close behind her, but we didn't see them) and also a ring neck pheasant.

Once we got there we saw some bigger animals. Miss Tina has quite the collection of animals, and each one has it's own unique characteristics.

I forgot this guy's name, but he is her very timid bull. She kept saying how surprised she was that he let us get this close to him, that he usually goes to the other end of the pasture when people are around.

This is Eddie, he is a pure bred Angus. The vet said he would not live through the night the day he was born. Eddie was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome. He was not able to nurse, so Tina had to hand feed him. She fed him every 3 hours and each feeding took an hour. His head looks more like a buffalo than an cow, we liked his curly hair.  With the help of Miss Tina he has overcome many obstacles in the past 3 years. She said after a lot of work he is now able to walk, but he is still not able to run.

It is a little hard to tell from this picture, but his eyelashes are about 3 inches long. He came right over to the fence and wanted Hailey to pet him.

This is Lady. She has had West Nile twice, which has left her with a little brain damage and a seizure disorder.

It did not take long at all for Hailey to make friends with Lady. She liked feeding Lady some grass. Whenever Hailey would stop feeding her, Lady would whinny begging for more. LOL

After a little coaxing Hunter fed her too. He is more reserved around animals but Hailey is a big animal lover and is very comfortable around them, they can sense that and are drawn to her too.
Miss Tina also has a cow with a turned leg and a donkey that acts as a watch dog. LOL We didn't get to see the donkey, but we heard him letting everyone know that we were there.
I asked if she sees Moose in the coulee that runs along her property. She said that the moose with jump her fence to get to her small pasture to eat. She also said that there are 2 white moose that have been spotted just down the road from her place. You know I will be trying to see them now.:-)

On our way back to the main road we saw 3 deer, so it was a very good evening to see wildlife.

I am so glad that Hailey got to meet Miss Tina and the animals. They both have a huge heart for animals, and an even larger heart for "misfit" animals. After we left Hailey asked if we could have a little farm someday. Hmmm............................

Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~