Fall JUGS ;)

Here's a card I made for a swap with some of my cruise friends...a pretty neat swap, too....each one of the 8 sent only the supplies for eight cards to one of the other swappers and then each of us made a card with whatever items we received, so really the card is a collaborative effort! And more of a challenge, as we had to use all of the supplies! This is the card I made with the items I received from Mary Lu. The card stock and the ink are from my stash, but all the rest came from one of my buds :) The card also fits the Just Us Girls (or JUGS) challenge to use a dimensional flower! ;) Check out the other entries....these ladies are TALENTED!! Click on the blinkie on the side bar ----------------->

This last pic is my wonderful family celebrating my DD's 18th bday. Aren't we cute?! Another milestone!

Are you having a FABULOUS week?! Me too....God is just so sweet and kind right now. Is life easy-peasy?? Honestly, no, not really. But is God good to hang out with anyhow? You betcha!! We are SO SO blessed. Thanks for being around and hanging in there with me!
You bless me!

Honestly!

Awww....so nice! My friend Wendy gave me this award! How sweet of her!

I have to list 10 things about me and then grant this award to 5 other creative people! I haven't done this is awhile, hmmmm.....

1. I love olives. Green, black, greek...doesn't matter! In fact my sisters used to give me cans and jars of olives for Christmas! Yummy!

2. I love mindless trivia...I will read ANYTHING I can get my hands on and love to learn little things about everything! Whether it's a book about something I like, or a hunting magazine, I will pick it up and read it.

3. I learned to weave cloth on a 12 harness floor loom in college and I have always wanted one of my own. They sell them for BIG BUCKS so I've never gotten one, but someday I would love to sit and weave for fun!

4. I love bags....tote bags, purses, wallets, big, small, adorable....I'm not a fashionista at all; most of my bags are bought at the thrift store or garage sales, but it's hard not to get them...many brand new!

5. I miss my grandmother. She was so special to me and she is the first person I want to see when I get to heaven.

6. I have 3 sisters and a brother and I am the oldest. I was the "boss of them" growing up because my parents were busy running a business to keep us in school clothes. I was often "baby sitting" for long periods of time and was responsible for them. I always wished I was not....I wish we could have just been playmates. It still makes me sad to have missed out on that.

7. I hate to shop at the mall or stores. I love flea markets and rummage sales. I grew up working the flea markets with my dad. I can walk around a flea market for 8 hours and not be tired. I'm ready to scream after walking through the mall for 15 minutes!

8. I love beauty and can find it everywhere. Frogs. Trees. Rocks. People. Words. Carpets. Purses. Everywhere. :)

9. I don't like driving. To me it is a mean to an end and if I could have a chauffer the rest of my life, I'd take it!

10. I love languages. I thank my God every day for His Word which is so rich and complex, yet so simple and honest. The bible is one big giant language lesson and a tremendous gift to all of us. God created mankind with the capacity to learn and use languages. It's like He gave to us a rich tapestry of "paints" to create all kinds of masterpieces. Without it, where would we bloggers be? ;)

And those creative stampers? Definitely these are a sample of some of my favorites:

Kathy Kathy uses her stamps to encourage more than anyone I know!

Roxanne Roxy is an amazing card designer!

Etha Etha is one of the first internet stampers I "met"! She has always been a creative inspiration to me!

Lisa I've gotten to know Lisa from the Clear Artistic Stamp forum. She has such a variety of "styles" in her cardmaking, she makes me feel better about my eclectic collection of styles! and she always has an encouraging word!

Heather Heather is also a friend from the CAS forum...she is also an encourager to me and I love her fun and colorful projects. I am always inspired by her and along with her creativity, she is also a generous person :)

Thanks for hanging out with me today! Have a tremendous week!!

Go Ahead, wish!

This is a card I made for a friend's birthday....she is battling an awful disease....depression. She has even tried to hurt herself several times, but by the grace of God has been unsuccessful. I want her to know that she doesn't have to worry about tomorrow or the next day or the next day...that God is with her everyday and she doesn't have to be afraid to go ahead and make a wish....God will be faithful to make it happen and she will be around for the blessing!

Below the card pic is a close up of the flowers....I used Versamark, ink and clear embossing powder on all of it....first I inked the images on the stamp with Versamark, and without stamping it yet, I added the color to the stamp with a dye ink (yes, on top of the versamark that was on the stamp already!) Then I stamped it, covered it in clear embossing powder, then used the heat tool until the powder was entirely melted! Voila! Images are from Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month. Love it!

Here's to wishing you all a wonderful day!! ;)

Coffee and toast, anyone?!

Here is another card using the paper piecing technique. When I use the Basic Grey Euphoria designer paper on my last card, a scrap piece fell out of the folder with one of my fav designs in the series and I thought....coffee cup! So I used the Unity stamp Co. September Kit of the Month from and made this card....the layer color is actually SU's most beautiful plum purple color in their in color set this year, as it the bright pink I used for the table cloth. The colors are all muted in the picture, though, for some reason.

Also my DH was so impressed that I put my breakfast he created last week on my blog, he insisted I take a pic of my apple-french toast from this week. He loves to cook and while card making is my gift, food is his....so I am DOUBLY BLESSED! and no.....he is NOT for rent! Sorry ladies!

Enjoy your week everyone!

Piece, Baby :)

I love language :) Don't you?!

In case you're wondering, though, my post title refers to Paper piecing...a fun technique and a personal favorite of mine because it always looks so cool ;) My friend Pam and friends have started a new Just Us Girls challenge blog and this is my 1st entry into it. I was glad the first challenge involved a technique I love! One of the little extras in the challenge was to include the color pink in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month. I am honored to do so and this card is for my friend Wendy....she is battling this evil disease for the second time. So for Wendy and all those of you affected by breast cancer in one way or another...tada!

Image and sentiment from Gina K Design Little Tees Stamp set, DP is Basic Grey Euphoria and CS: SU In colors 09

May God bless you today and always!

Friends with Flair Friday :) or FFF with Unity Stamp Company, of course!

Welcome to my first official post for Friends with Flair Fridays at Unity Stamps!

Those who have never heard of this weekly fun: on Angela's Unity Stamp Co blog, she lists blogs of some of her customers, having hidden a "blinkie" in the FFF posts on one of the blogs....if you leave a comment, you may be chosen to win a prize! If this post doesn't have a blinkie, you move on through the list til you stumble upon it!

I became a Unity Stamp Co. junkie from the first minute I saw their images...but since talking with them in person and selling their stamps in Ye Olde Outhouse at the summer CHA Supershow, I am now a diehard fan! I have joined their Kit of the Month and look forward to every package! I so love their fun, beautiful, and sometimes funky, images! And their WONDERFUL and AMAZING quote images have graced a card or few on this blog! The bike in this card is one of my favorite images. I colored it sparkly green, 'cause you KNOW it is my favorite color!! And if you have a green bike....well you must have an orange seat!! I think I will send this one to my son, the Downhill Mountain Biking Maniac! I kid you not...he rides down SKI SLOPES! {{Yes we bought him a helmet WITH A FULL FACE MASK!! No kidding! I paid A LOT for those beautiful straight teeth!}}

Here's the sparkly bike up close!! Isn't it SO fun??

If you are here blog hopping, be sure to go back to Angela's blog for the list and keep on going!! You could be on the road to a prize!! And please join my list of followers! I'd love to see you again! Blessings to you, my newest Unity friends!

Crisp and Windy fall days are here!

I don't know how the weather is for you all, but here the days are crisp and the winds are filling our yards with leaves GALORE! I love fall and fall colors so that saves the day for me even if my hat blows off!! This is a Gina K card using her Whimsical Autumn set. These beauties look like the ones sitting on my front stoop :) Enjoy your day!!

Happy Thoughts :)

Here's a WAY better picture of the card I made for WCMD (the one in the breakfast post) The challenge was to make a card showing what girlfriends do and also to have an 80's flair...so I went for big hair and striped pants and of course the times I get together with friends where work talk is forbidden and only fun and happy things are thought by all :) Oh and the background REALLY made me think of the dance floor on Saturday Night Fever! But from the start, I intended it for my friend Mary Angela for her birthday!And these are the cards I made using Gina K images that I put together for a gift card set for Mary Angela as well! ;) I just added envelopes to the cards and put them in one of PTI's acrylic card cases....very professional looking when it's all put together! She liked them :)
Well, I don't know about you, but today seemed like a Monday. Could be the full moon...the kids were all off a bit...or maybe I was?! Nah!

Oh, don't forget to check out the next project in the By Invitation Only Designer spot for Clear Artistic Stamps!
Blessings, dear friends!

This is how much my Hubby loves me ;)

As I was getting ready for church this morning I said to my darling husband, "I wish we could have pumpkin waffles with apple cider syrup for breakfast...I saw that in a recipe book once and it sounds so good today."

This was my breakfast an hour later...my request with a twist. You see, we didn't have pumpkin (we did have yams) and we didn't have cider (we did have frozen concentrate apple juice). So here are my MOST DELICIOUS Yam waffles with YUMMO apple juice syrup. Oh, and he made the coffee, too! The card you see in the photo is one I made yesterday for the StampingBella challenge for World Cardmaking Day, but it was sitting on the table already and it matched so I set it up for the picture! LOL!

Also on the table was another card I had made for the Splitcoaststampers challenge for WCMD...so I wrote a thank you note inside it and gave this card to my hubby. He so totally rocks!

Hope your Sunday was as blessed! Have a tremendously wonderful week, my friends!

Thrilled in October!! A Guest Designer spot :)

I have been asked to be a Guest Designer for Clear Artistic Stamps for the entire month of October! I know, right!! This is so exciting for me! I have always loved Belinda's style of artwork and whimsical designs, which remind me so much of my beloved story books as a child. I'd love for you to pop over and see my projects (click below)! A different one will be highlighted each week. What a blessing to share my craft with you!

By Invitation Only

Here is a card using some Clear Artistic stamps and felt flowers. The Rumble challenge on Clear Artistic's In the Cottage Studio blog is called "Inside out". You need to show both the inside design of the card as well as the outside! The images come from the Whispers of Dreams and the Sympathy Garden sets. Pop on over to the blog....there are prizes to win today if your comment is chosen! Also my card is in one of the World Cardmaking Day challenges over at Splitcoaststampers.com. There are prizes there for posting cards as well!

Blessings!

Happy World Cardmaking Day!! :)

Happy World Cardmaking Day!! Everyone! :)

I was inspired by a card similar to this on Splitcoast Stampers.com. I used the SU punch with three little flowers....I just fell in love with the idea of making a "Snoball" flower with the tiny ones all bunched together....I got a bit carried away (it just kept growing and growing!)

I've been making a good number of cards and hope to be posting more soon!

Hope your World Card Making Day is full of creative mojo and warm cocoa!

It's in the 50's here in WNY!!

Blessings!