Challenges that bless!

Yay!!! I can post again!! Blogger wasn't uploading last night, but it's a new day!! Praise God!

This first card is part of a blogging sister's challenge. I took the sketch and twisted it a bit. Here's the original June sketch by my SBS9 sister Alex:

Do you see how I just turned the card? I don't usually go "off sketch"...that's just my weird little quirk because a sketch is just a guideline, but I always want it to fit exactly, so you have to really encourage me to get me to be more creative than that! This time I hope I did okay ;) The image I used came from another SBS sister, Lulu, in an image swap she sent around awhile ago...I love that the girl looks like a drawing one of my school kids would do, so I colored her with swashes of color as my kids would do...and I love the effect...click on the photo to see it up close. I used my copics. This card is a thank you to a very special friend. Hope she likes it!


This next card is a color challenge card:
We needed to use pink and brown in the challenge. {obviously, right ?! LOL!}

Sometimes I feel like my cards get too complicated and it takes away from simple beauty. I decided to STOP and not add any more to this card. I still feel that "maybe one more thing" urge...but I am fighting it!! This will be another thank you card to a wonderful friend who has blessed me tons!!

Now I have a lot more to share, but I don't want to put it all in one post!! Let me tell you though about an event we had at church on Sunday.....


I think you all know about my mission trip to Mozambique. We leave at the end of July. I just got my typhoid, Hep A shots this week and am ready with my malaria medication....I continue to raise personal support for the trip ( I have raised about $1600. so far including my own savings from not getting stamps...which has been a blessing, really!!!) but we as a team must also raise support for the materials we need in country....the total need is $48, 000!!! The team is much bigger than the 6 from our church, praise God and they have raised much of the money....our team was asked to raise the rest, so we had a BREAD OF LIFE auction at church. It's a really neat way to have fun, get everyone involved in the trip. People from the congregation donate loaves of bread and homemade baked goods. After church, we hand out numbers like the one my hubby is holding here:


Then we have an auctioneer--My friend (below) Sam did an AWESOME job! He usually starts the bidding at $5. and on we go! It is pretty hilarious to see us Christian brothers and sisters in bidding wars for a big loaf of Sunflower bread! The most expensive loaf sold for $125.!! Amazing! (FYI: The bidder's husband tore up her number after that! LOL!) We had a total of 22 bidders, 56 donated items and raised $1339.!!!!! Wow! How exciting is that!?


This picture is the Cafe we have in our church for our after service Coffee hour that we hold weekly. This is the first "event" we've held in the Cafe as this is our first year in this new building...it was a party house before we purchased it! Our church is called Celebrate! and we certainly do! What a great thing God is doing here!!


Well this post is HUGE! But I wanted to add in the tag questions that my SBS sister Louise tagged me for:


10 Years Ago: I was a young 35 year old with a full schedule including working as a speech path, mission leader, children's ministry coordinator, a new job in the public schools and much more energy for taxi-ing for my kids around to play soccer!! I did weigh the same, so that's some consolation, right?? Well, I could have worked harder to be skinnier then too, I guess!! LOL!


5 Things On My To Do List: 1. Tidy up my lecture notes for the grad class I teach in the fall.
2. Write a list of things to take to Mozambique
3. Go to the library with my daughter for our summer reading.
4. Call my mom and see how she is feeling today.
5. Make more thank you cards for those people who have blessed
me by joining my prayer team for my mission trip!


Fav Snacks: Oh gosh....salty pretzels or anything mint chocolate!!


If I Was A Millionaire: I would definitely go on vacation in Hawaii, own a a small house in Mexico on a beach, go on mission trips every year and bless my church with money to build our dream youth and family support center. Bless my mom and sisters. Oh, and have a big stamping room with a sky light and lots of storage and counter space!!! And tables for all my friends to come stamping too!! :)

Places I've lived: Rochester, NY (23 different places including inside the city itself as well as suburbs of Gates, Greece and Webster), Williamsport, PA, Leicester, NY and Geneseo, NY.

I don't know who hasn't been tagged because I was tagged so long ago, but if I think of some, I'll add them!! Thanks, friends for stopping in!! Look for my SBS 9 sketch soon...I have July assigned to me!!!


O happy day!