The weekend again already!? Joy!

Hi everyone! How was YOUR week? Mine seemed so long....yet here it is the weekend AGAIN! Life is so busy! I did get some late nights of stamping in, so lots to share this week...

First, though I wanted to say THANKS! to all who are visiting my blog and leaving comments...they are SO encouraging to me! You all are really the BEST! I wanted to start by sharing this card:

Yes, she is the other Tilda and Co. image my SBS sister Sue sent me all the way from the UK...I again used my copic markers that I won from Gina K's blog candy contest a month or so ago....lots of you are asking about the Copics (Gina pronounced it cope-ick...with a long 'o' sound). So here is my take on them in a mini-faux interview with myself (hey, any excuse to talk to myself and rationalize it as 'normal' is okay, isn't it? Tell me I'm in the right blogsphere, here, if you would ;) This is one 'faux' that is more of a friend, yes?? Tee hee!

Faux: So, did you always want these Copic markers...like, from the beginning??

Kim: Well, they looked good from here, but actually, Faux, all I could think of was: oh great, another new 'must have' thing...no way....but in reality, I have a pen obsession! It's true! I do calligraphy and love to write words as I doodle and I have ALWAYS loved pens; actually I love any kind of writing utensil! But Copics are pretty pricey, so I was back to 'no way'....

Faux: And, then, how did you come to have these 'must haves'?

Kim: Oh, I commented on Gina K's blog and she picked my name out of, like, 1400 names. Who can argue with FREE?? And of course I was so blessed! She has the BEST blog candy!

Faux: Yes, we know, we read your blog about that, here. And I understand you chose Copic Box B. What made you decide that box over boxes A, C, or D?

Kim: Well, it was an intense decision....I got some online opinions on the Gina K forum on SCS, but everyone had a different opinion. I called Gina K and asked her opinion as she is an amazing card and stamp designer and I respect her and her love of the pens. I mean, markers. She actually suggested box A, then told me that her artist daughter actually preferred box B as a good starter set. It comes with a blender pen and has lots of skin tones. The skin tone thing was the thing...I always have had trouble with getting good skin tone coloring of my images....and my daughter is also artistic and she is forever drawing people, so.....

Faux: And what do you think of these pens? Okay, markers?

Kim: Love them...glad I won them, because the cost is still prohibitive for me...but they are VERY easy to color with. There are no overlapping "marker" lines, which is sweet...your image looks so SMOOTH. The pens are double sided...one side is a brush and one side is a (SUPER SWEET!) calligraphy point! Just what I needed!! More calligraphy pens! And there are a MILLION things that you can do with Copics, which are alcohol based, that I am only beginning to learn and explore. So the coolest thing is that it is a new adventure for me! And I have learned that they are refillable, so they will literally last forever...on earth anyhow!

Faux: Would you recommend this adventure to others?

Kim: Absolutely! Gina K has a "club" where you can purchase the set in installments if you wanted to pay a bit at a time. If you want to stop in at my house in NY sometime, we can play with them, too! And if you visit Gina's blog, be on the lookout for amazing blog candy....the set I won was the SECOND time she has given some away! Her blog is a favorite as I LOVE her stamps! Even now, I await my latest NEEDS to arrive! :) {By the way, her blog candy this week is a Scor-pal!}

Oh! I have some chores to do! I'll be back sometime soon! Be blessed and check in again....more to post!

Kim

A Challenge, a PIF and a Hello from across the Pond

Weekends are SWEET!

And some candy is coming.....read on!

Hi all! Happy Weekend! I have to say this week has lasted forever and a day....with time for breathing at a premium! I have had a great week of mail though! First, I want to share a postcard I received from a blogging sister, Sue, from the UK....she sent me this card in a sister postcard swap. She grew up here and lives close to all this...Cool, huh? Sue was sweet enough to send me a few Tilda images of little Magnolia....



...I actually used her to make this card for a Birthday card challenge on NattyK's blog...this SBS sister challenged us to make a pink birthday card. This one is for my good friend Sarah, whose birthday in early March. I used my copic markers for the first time and I LOVE how she turned out! You cannot really tell, but I used a glitter pen on her wings and there's an 'S' on the little tag on her egg {for Sue and Sarah, tee hee} I also used my paper crimper and primas for the flowers. And my sentiment is from Gina K. My SBS sis Sue shares a lot of cards made with this sweet girl and I love them all. She's just so DARLING, don't you think??


PIF...do you all know what that is? Well, for those of you that aren't sure...it means Pass It Forward. It means you get something nice and you pass on something nice and on and on around the world :) I have always wanted to participate in a PIF, and my SBS sister Amber had my first opportunity on her blog....I commented and received these wonderful goodies! Her card is beautiful and the picture of the cuttlebugged image does not do it justice!
















The CB'ed images are GOLD and SPARKLY! And Amber sent me some new to me bellas I don't have the stamps for (LOVE BELLAS!!!!!) and green and sparkly BLING! LOVE GREEN! And finally, but not least, she sent me some adorable acrylic stamps...very cool....click on the picture for a close up! So, so fun...SO! In order for me to PIF....and if you would like some BLOG CANDY of your own.....comment here, be one of the first THREE to do so and I will send you your very own SURPRISE! Be sure your name has a weblink or you include your email, so I can contact you for your address! Oh! and if you choose to play the PIF, don't forget, you also need to PIF to three others...that's the way it works :)

Go, Go!

And have great and blessed weekend....snow and all!
Kim

Erika's blog

Love DOES Rock!

Erika Martin's artwork has always made me happy. She is a stamper who loves color, design and texture...all things I adore in stamping, food and clothing...but I was drawn to Erika's blog and work by something even bigger: Her passion for her art, her family and raising awareness of Autism. Erika's son Zach is one of the children in our world who lives with autism and its impact on his family and his life.

Erika is also a very generous person...she has made blog candy an art form in itself, with weekly giveaways, one of which I've won recently myself!!

Well, excitement on Erika's site is just bubbling up and I wanted to share it with all of you!


First, Zach recently celebrated his 9th birthday and Erika and Zach are giving you a chance to win a great prize! Follow this link!

Secondly, Erika has painted a wonderful acrylic masterpiece to raise money towards research in Autism. It is available for bidding on EBay....Check it out! Follow this link! And feel free to bid on it....it would be a gift to yourself and to Zach.

And finally, Erika has shared some personal thoughts and reflections as the mother of a child with autism as she shares her hopes and dreams for her boy. As a mom of two, I know that none of us are sure of what the future holds for our children; I also know that we all have dreams and desires that our kids will become exactly what God has purposed for them to be. Erika shares her hope beautifully on her blog, Stampin' Mama: A Mama that Stamps.

I think her passion will touch your spirit and your heart! Also, feel free to visit her blog that she shares with Zach! Follow this link!

Be well and blessed this week!
Love ya!
Kim

Happy Joyful Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the official hug your hunny, snuggle your sweetie, swoon over your sweetheart and kiss your Cutie Day!

(although everyday works for me ;)

This is the card I made my hubby for the day. I used Gina K's "How Sweet it Is" images and sentiment. This stamp set raises money ($7. per set sold!) and awareness of Diabetes, so if you are like me and live to support worthy causes, check out the set! Her company is worth it's service in GOLD! I used the paper piecing technique for the sundae...it's one of my favorite techniques! I used SU markers to color the image and some hearts from SU's A Light Heart retired stamp set.



Here's another bottle project that I put together for my DH. He is a real chocolate addict and I decided that to be a good wife and not sabotage his diet, I would give him chocolate with portion control....of course I have absolutely no will power for portion control, but thought he'd get a kick out of it! LOL!!

The label uses Stampendous' clear acrylic abc's and says "mi esposo favorito", one of my pet names for John (it means "my favorite husband" in spanish. In my experience, in Mexico, they don't capitalize as a rule in informal writing! Ever get an email in spanish?) The "love ya" is so very ME and is stamped in CHF's Scripty words set.

He'll love it, I think :) How can he not?!?

In other news (tee hee)--My SBS sister Amber has awarded "the sistahs" with the Blog of Excellence award...How sweet is that? We're supposed to nominate other bloggers, so here are a few of my VERY VERY favorites:
Nichole Heady's blog at Capture the Moment and Holly Brown at Glitter Stamps and Ink, oh My! These ladies do blogs and cards AWESOME! Check them out!

Well, all, have a great great day! Don't forget to give a big hug and kiss to the ones you love!! Enjoy the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and Be Glad!!

Kim

Challenges are good! And so is card swapping!

One of the stamping hobby things I really enjoy are the swapping cards or images with other stampers. It not only challenges me to create using a specific set of criteria or materials, it also blesses me with ideas! I love sharing creativity! The first card is an SBS9 Sketch challenge with my SBS9 sisters. Suzann gave us a sketch; click here to see it on her blog.


Here is my entry into the challenge:

I used a base card from a set of blank cards by Carlson. My aunt gave them to me as part of a great Christmas gift. I wanted some brighter colors for this card. I also used some scrap purple and yellow. I used Papertrey Ink's stamp set Green Thumb for the flowers. I also used Versamark ink and some SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the background flowers, also from the set. It doesn't show up real well in the picture but it is **SUPER SPARKLY**! A few coordinating prima flowers with OTC brads and some old ribbon I've had forever and VOILA! A challenge sketch card :)

The next card was for a Cornish Heritage Farms Forum swap. I made it about a month ago, but the swap hadn't been received by the other stampers, so I wanted to wait to post it! We had to use only CHF stamped images. I used Cute curls and Scripty words from their Kim Hughes collection. What do you think? I love Kim's sentiment because the words "Love ya" are the tag line for most of my conversations with my students as well as my closest friends and family.

These last cards are prototypes for a 3x3 swap I am doing with some of the stampers in my church. What began as a creative women's night out has turned into a stamping circle of great proportions! (And don't believe it when someone from church says I created the monster...unleashed it, maybe, but 'created' it is a little strong! ;) So we are having a swap and beginning small....literally!! LOL! These were my first attempts at using acetate (overhead transparencies) to create a card. My final design is a secret until after the swap! But I liked these a lot! I had a hard time getting a good photo that showed the card well....I ended up making a little stand for the card with a scrap piece of acetate. It was an interesting experiment!

What's up for your weekend?? Hope it involves something or someone you love! Glad you stopped in! Be sure to leave a comment! Then I feel like we've chatted! Be well and blessed and stay warm and cozy!!

Love ya!

Kim

Family is good....and birthdays are, too!

Birthdays seem to be happening all around me and it's hard to keep up!! Happy Birthday to all my SBS sisters that have been celebrating since our forum began!! I dreamt of getting cards out to everyone, but life always seemed to interrupt so this card goes out to all of you!! Enjoy a wonderful new year of living the Life Amazing!

Knowing the SBS9 sisters are a part of my stamping family makes me think of all of the family I have around me...my biological family, my hubby's family, my church family, my work family, my community family and my stamping family. And you know what? It's all good! I thank God for my family and all that they are! What a blessing to have those in your life that always stick up and look out for you! Be blessed by them today!




This next card is the one I made for my son's 22nd birthday which was actually last weekend. We shared the purchase of a Wii for his big day with his girlfriend. I was able to stamp him up a card just this week, but I know he'll appreciate it anyhow! He's not a big forest guy, but my manly stamping images are limited. He was a Bear in cubscouts when he was little!! :) I used the CHF backgrounder pine needles and a Northwoods stamp I purchased from them awhile back. The sentiment is from Gina K's free set you can earn on her site. I made the woodgrain panel myself with chocolate chip ink and white craft ink. I think I learned that on a Gina K tutorial years ago. Oh! I also colored the birch trees with a white gel pen :) What do you think?



My last card for this post is for my MIL (mother in law ;). She has had surgery and is still in the hospital. I wanted something springy and although it's hard to tell, the SU cardstock colors are gable green, lilac and glorious green. The stamp set is a Stampendous window box set, although the little butterflies are from SU's basket of fun set. Looking at it now, I think I should have added a prima flower or a decorative brad....hmmmmm. ...perhaps I'll CASE myself!

Tomorrow I want to post my friendship card challenge and perhaps a few more surprises?? Who knows what God has in store for me!!

Be well and blessed all!!

Kim

Friendship is so good!

I could not do it! I could not make it through this life without my friends! My husband and I have friends all over the country and friends all over the world. No, really we do. And we all have those friends whom we love and see and share our joys and our disasters with all the time. I happen to have a few friends without whom I really wouldn't have any good days. Do you have those friends? If I can't see them in person for any length of time, I find myself longing to be with them! Almost as if some part of my very being is missing. The card you see above is an embodiment of my feelings towards those special individuals God has blessed me with in this life. My closest friends are the fond memories in my life...teardrops of time treasured in my heart. This image set is the one of Clear Acrylic Stamps collector's sets, In a Peaceful Glade. Isn't that bunny just wonderful?? These stamps are just so beautiful to work with...because the images are so sharp the first time, I've never had to stamp one more than once!! And coloring with my pencils and OMS, along with my SU Cameo coral marker was therapeutic after a 13 hour work day! And that whole time I colored the image, I thought about my close friends...and I smiled.

Here's another card using some of the single stamps designed and sold by Clear Artistic stamps...This is a thank you card (obviously! LOL!) using the bunny and flower...I wanted some springtime in my cards...so tired of winter!! The prima flowers and bric-a-brac are so perfect together, don't you think?? The calligraphy is mine :)

Here is a close up of the bunny and potted plant. I kind of cheated...I learned a long time ago that to avoid cutting a lot of tiny details on an image, I only had to cut the easy part and incorporate the rest of it into my design. Much easier and I like "easier"....A LOT!

Well, friends, I have been making a lot of cards lately...I'll probably post a bunch of them this week! I used Belinda's stamps here as part of a challenge on our Clear Artistic stamp forum. I have an SBS9 sketch card to post too....maybe tomorrow!! Don't you just get chills of anticipation of things to come.....okay, well, maybe the chills are due to the fact that the door just blew open!! In any case I hope you'll look forward and let all your friends know you love and need them!

And please pray for those folks affected by those tornados this week. My heart is aching for them. Pray what the Lord would have you do to help! God bless you all!!

Kim

My middle name :) Tagged!

A first for me! I have been *tagged* by my SBS9 sister Suzann:

The Middle Name Game!

These are the rules:-You just post the rules before you give your answers.

You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details.)

Multilinguistic: Love vocabulary! and languages! and talking! ;) My favs: Italian, Spanish and Sign Language!

Academic: I love learning and researching everything! Everything!

Red hair: I have accepted the fact that I cannot escape it! Everyone else wants it, so I embrace it!

Intense: I have been told that I am pretty intense in my passion for everything I do! (note the !s in this post!)
Entertaining: I love to entertain kids with my puppets and grownups with my bad jokes!!


And here are the 5 bloggers I'm tagging next!

Wendy
Kurtis
Vanessa
Joan
Tonya

Faithful

"I have always felt that the moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours." -Monica Baldwin

God is so faithful. That is the message that keeps going through my mind this week. There is so much going on in the world, yet God is here for us everyday! When I hear the news on the TV and radio, I end up so sad and discouraged! (My pastor calls CNN "constantly negative news")Yet when I pray right then and there for the people and situations I am hearing about, there is a peace in my mind, heart and spirit that says to me: Do not worry. I am there.

I know some would ask that if God is there, then why do these 'situations' happen? Boy, if only I had the answers to those specific situations! The only thing I can do is read what God's Word says to us: Do not fear for I am with you always or God turns all things for good to those that love Him. God seeks to bless us and not cause us harm. Oftentimes, I am my own worst enemy! The decisions I make and the things I choose to do cause hurt and pain to those I love or to myself....and I think, What WAS I thinking?? When I choose to walk the narrow path of right living and right thinking (and we ALL know what that is! Right from wrong is an early lesson, isn't it??) my path is blessed with all good things!

The apostle Paul is the most real person to me in the bible. (Jesus notwithstanding :) I so identify with Paul's lament: Oh, why do I do that which I don't want to do and don't do what I know I should (my paraphrase!) Only with God can we reconcile those things...our desires and our choices with right living. But God is faithful to pull us back into His arms, or His lap and love us the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want! Even when I can't see the path ahead, God is faithful to provide the light I need to see the next two steps! He is! But we must faithfully walk on! Don't give up and don't give in to those emotions that tell you that you are alone! You are never alone with a God who is faithful.

Be blessed!
Kim

PS I never shared my exciting news...the school board where I work okay'ed two days leave from work so that I can go on a stamping cruise next fall with Gina K, Emma Bella and Nichole Heady! Stamping on a boat!! My DH gave me the cruise as a Christmas and early 25th wedding anniversary present! He is SO cute! ;)

Wanna see my DH in action??

Our church is having a banquet for married couples on the weekend of Valentine's Day. One of our pastors put together a video to show in church to publicize the event. I have told many of you about the fact that my wonderful husband is also a wonderful cook...here he shows his best gift in costume...tee hee! Take a peek! PS The couple dancing are my friends Sam and Gail...darn cute, huh??

http://icelebrate.org/manna/CelebrateMarriage.wmv

I have a snowday today {high winds and some freezing 'stuff'...no snowman material! :( } so hopefully I'll be back today with some pics of creations!!!

Happy Birthday to my son! 22 years old today!! Love ya, Geoffy!

See you soon!

JOY! JOY! JOY! And in COLOR!

OMIGRACIOUS!!!

People! This is breaking news!!! YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS!

Click here to see what I am talking about!!!!!! Go ahead, read it all!! Yes, I'm in there!

Do you know what it means....like WOW!


Okay, I am trying to calm down....breathe....breathe.....this is just so exciting! (you KNOW how I am!)


This marker set is worth over $150! They are alcohol based markers and so they are very versatile to use, from what I understand. And I get to play!! WOW! And I AM SOOOOOO BLESSED! God is so blessing me this week!


To be honest, Copic markers are the latest and greatest, but how many of you know that you can get pretty poor buying up all the latest and greatest, right? So here I decided that being in the SU marker club is good enough for me as I love their markers. And that if I was going to have any copic anything, I'd have to win it....and I DID! I am still beside myself. Now to choose??? Oh, gosh, choosing is IMPOSSIBLE! But I will do it....I must ;)


Whew! Just reading my name on Gina K's blog is so exhausting, 'cause I 'm so excited!!!


Do any of you have these markers?? What color set should I get??

AND.....I may have some more exciting news tomorrow..........................................

Oh, you'll just have to wait and see! Tee hee!

Wow. Sorry, I can't stop saying it. Wow.

Praise God!

Love ya!

Kim

A Wee bit of Joy!

Jackie's Blog Entry Challenge

One of my stamping blog sisters is having a "wee" contest on her blog (isn't it fun to say that?!) She is posting entries, but mine's still in the .jpeg stage :)

So for YOU, a sneak peek! This is my entry, but be sure you check out her blog as well, so you can see everyone's ideas and her challenge. It included using some kind of technique on the card.

For the flower and shamrock, I used the masking technique and to be honest...it's not the most fun technique for me to do...but I love the results! The challenge for me is that you have to think backwards. I used this technique on my winning card I made for CHF's stamp of the month, so long ago. Very challenging for "Mrs. Goal Oriented, Let's Move Forward, No Reason to Look Back" girl!! :) But you all KNOW I love a challenge and I never give up....so, Here it is :)

Hey, I'm going bowling with a bunch of friends from work, so I gotta go, but have a great weekend if I don't see you! Blessings!

Love ya!

Kim

What a joyful day to share!

My goodness!! God is SO good to us!! I just saw that I won a blog candy giveaway....of Prism paper!! Yes! Remember that Ice Gold paper I keep raving about?? The company that makes the paper had a blog candy contest awhile back and my name was drawn randomly!! How cool is THAT? I got to choose 2 packs of whatever color I wanted! and they are sending the accent pack of embellishments that match! Can you believe it??!! Praise Jesus!! Hey, they are having another contest....check it out!! You'll see me as the winner, but scroll down to see the next contest! {In case you have NO IDEA what blog candy is, keep reading...it's worth finding out, believe me!}

And although it was pretty snowy at work today....here at my house (18 miles away) there is just a dusting. Whew! No shoveling yet! Hey, if you like snow...go to the ski slopes! My hubby and girl went skiiing and snow boarding yesterday and had a great time. I stayed warm and cozy at home! We both win!

So really, I know you're here to check out my paint can gift project aren't you?? Well, here it is:

Yep, a paint can! Papertreyink.com sells these great, clear paint cans. I used my newly released PTI acrylic stamp set, Out on a Limb to decorate the vellum before putting it inside the can. It is a GORGEOUS set...click here to see it! Along with the sentiment Amazing Grace, I added a Helen Keller quote on the back.

"The best and most beautiful things of the world cannot be seen or even be touched, they must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller

Helen Keller happens to be one of my heroes. There are other beautiful sentiments as well. They even have a quote from Martin Luther in the set! Really, check it out!

I stamped everything on SU vellum in Old Olive,Cameo coral and Purely Pomegranate ink. I finished it with pomegranate ribbon.

For the lid, I stamped a white CS circle with the branch and flowers again, and covered it in vellum with Blessings stamped on the vellum.

Then I included a small votive cup for burning a tea candle. I had a few of those disposable battery powered tea candles that will run for awhile so I put one in so she can enjoy the 'candle' now. Before you get all "Kim, you are amazing" (gee thanks my friends!! :) You should know that I was inspired by a Paint can in PTI's designer gallery!! See it here.

I also gave Erin a new stamp set from Gina K that you guys just HAVE to check out! It's called Dr. Feelgood! I figured a newly wed can make some cards for her new hubby! She LOVED them!

I also did some cards for a swap with CHF. I'll share them after the swappers get their cards....no reason to give any sneak peeks!

Oh, and for those who want to know what blog candy is....it's when a blogger has some kind of contest to give away free stuff!!! I have won a few in my time and it is always GOOD!! CHF is going to be giving away some free stuff (and they have great stuff!) to celebrate their new stamp release, so feel free to stop in a join in the fun!

Isn't life fun?

Love ya!

Kim

Sunshine and Joy on a Winter Holiday :)

Hi everybody! Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Such a pretty day today! Here in W. NY we have bright sunshine and frigid cold temps...but still...it's in the 20's! Some of my stamping buddies out there are really cold!! Gina K in Wisconsin has been below 0 this week! Eek! Still, only a dusting on my lawn, so I can live with it! My husband and daughter are snowboarding today....and here I am doing report cards and school work....warm and cozy, at least! ;)

I've also been super busy preparing for teaching my grad class...it's a new area of teaching for me (augmentative communication: do any of you know what that is?) and I am putting together the lectures...it will be a really tough class topic wise, material wise, etc. so pray for me, won't you? thanks! You guys are the BEST!!

Well, I have been stamping in my in-between times...my friend Betty is starting these monthly CREATE! nights at her house where we gather to stamp cards that will eventually go to a person needing encouragement...maybe a grieving parent, lonely man, anxious mom, etc. Betty received just such a card when her son was born as he had had a stroke in utero...he is a precious young man now, but Betty remembers what it was like to be so worried that you might lose your child. That card has meant so much to her and she wants to give to others what she herself received. So several of my stamping buddies got together and made some cards! It was fun! Here is a card I created using my "It doesn't get much better" Thomas Kinkade stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms!

This card only took about 15 minutes to put together. I used Tim Holtz' Distress Inks and my brayer on the stamp and on my first try: TA DA! Doesn't it look like a photograph? I really love how those stamped images look. Amazing really....now I have a nice guy birthday card, just like that!

Then I did some stamping for my friend Erin's b-day...but I can't share those pix until Wednesday...after I give them to her! I think you'll like them, though! AND I went to an SU party and we made two cute cards....so you see, I have been creating!

In fact, I can share a picture that my daughter was making...as she borrowed my prismacolor pencils. There are German words within the "webbing"...although off the top of my head, I forget what they were.

Here is a close up of the girl she was making. Cool, huh? She is aspiring to do something with her art such as graphic designs or something. You just never know what will come up!! :)

Isn't the hair so cool? Can't you just FEEL the wind blowing. The assignment was to make a fantasy-type picture. She just shaded the webbing to finish after her coloring was done. She "framed" it in DP that looked like a wooden door. Sorry, she was up too late for me to get a pic. Of course it was due the next day....of course!! Sigh!

Finally, today I wanted to share a few things that my pastor's wife brought back from Haiti...she thanked my family for providing a dinner to her family during the trip she and my Pastor were on by gifting us these cute things! This first one is an angel made by a woman in Haiti. I just love her! To think she came all the way from Haiti to here to us! What a blessing!

This next one shows some coasters and a little painting of Haitians. I really like this one, too. I always love when I can experience a place through the work of artisans from other countries. Gives you a feel of a page from their life. We are talking about taking a team from church to Haiti to do some building and such and bless the people there. I hope it works out to do that!

God is so good to knit our hearts together, isn't He? Even from a half a world away!

Well, people....more to do! Have a great week! I promise to come back this week and deliver those pics of the things I made for my friend!

Blessings!

Kim

¡Celebre con la Alegría!

Celebrating Friendship!

These two pictures show a project that I created for two friends of ours that we hold dear to our hearts! Jack and Sandy have been not only good good friends who have stood with and by us through the 'stuff' life throws you, but they have also prayed with us and for us just about every day. They've been on mission trips with us, laughed with us and cried with us. They are friends of the spirit and those kind of friends are {friends indeed}! We had dinner there last week and I made them this "3D Card". I used a bottle from that new FUZE drink...the bottles are BEAUTIFUL for this type of project! I was inspired by Stampin' Kub's project here, then I started to collect them. The best part was that I didn't cover the edge of the cap...it says "Healthy infuzions"...perfect descriptor for m&m's...don't ya think?? The paper is actually some DP that an SCS stamper sent me as a WishRAK and the letter stamps are Hero Arts acrylics. The sentiment comes from CHF's Kim Hughes collection, Scripty words...my new favorite sentiment set! So much fun to create!

This project is a gift for a friend at work who needs a daily encouragement! I used a butterfly from SU's retired Wonderful Wings set (I am still NEEDING this set...this was another image sent to me by a Wish RAK angel!). It is embossed on only orange CS and then I BLEACHED the inner image of the butterfly! There is a great technique tutorial on bleaching images here. Erika Martin used this image with a bleached card awhile ago, but I couldn't find her entry.

I also used the technique on this card I made this last fall. I was a little less scared with bleaching this time and the image came out a little brighter....I liked it! I then mounted the completed image onto a calendar that I picked up in the American greetings store for $1. It had a butterfly pic on it already, but it was very detailed. I knew this image would look better ;) The background on the calendar itself worked perfectly to complement my idea! I added some Prima flowers and brads to liven it up. What do you think?

How's the weekend going for you? Remember: The Joy of the Lord is your Strength! And having good friends only adds to the Joy! Our God is all about relationships. Celebrate them today!

PS for those SBS9 sisters who are wondering at my blog's name, click here!

Be blessed!

Kim

Joyfully napping and promises kept!

Do you just LOVE this card's image and quote??

Ah, to provide the world with some small understanding of the sweat and energy that go into our creations!! Okay, maybe not the world, but at least my hubby!

This sweet stamp set is from a new company, Clear Artistic Stamps, that has been launched by a stamping friend of mine, Belinda Landtroop.

This is a special edition set called Wistful Dreams

It is a limited edition, though, so if you like it, you better check it out! She has another limited edition set you'd love, too, called In a Peaceful Glade. I want them both! I'm saving quickly to get the next one before they are gone!!

Belinda is a very talented artist and I have used some of her art on some cards I have made in the past. She creates "gift art" online and shares them with other stampers. Her art is reminiscent of the artists who drew children's stories long ago, such as Beatrice Potter and Margaret Wise Brown. Soothing and wonderful art!

A Yahoo group forum for Clear Artistic Stamps has started, too, and you can join! Click here. That way you can get Belinda's free monthly Gift Art and share card ideas and techniques!

And! A card by my girl! She was watching me make cards and she said, "I want to make a bella card!" She looked through my bella stash and found Kittycattabella. Then she said, "I want to use the cuttlebug!" These are the only two embossing folders I have so far. Then she said, "Do you have small letters?" Um, yes. Then she said, "Do you have a small punch?" Um...YES! Then She made this creation!! Cool, huh?? She hates to admit it, but my 16 year old is catching the fever!!!! I love the colors on the cats! She just used my prismacolor pencils, Walmart stack paper and versafine black to ink in the bella. She also used SU letters and small circle punch.

Hey, I promised to post some pictures! I actually have a few more! I'll try to come back again this weekend!

Be ever blessed this weekend!

Have fun!

Kim

Shouts of Joy!

Hi Everybody!

I promise to post a project this week...but just wanted to check in and say, THANKS! to those who have visited my blog and to those who have left a comment! Each of you has blessed my day when I read your input! :)

{Added note! One of my SBS9 sisters told me about an online translator you add to your blog!(thanks Maureen and Manna!) I LOVE IT! You'll see it down on the right side...my site looks so cool in other languages! That's ONE of my one million obsessions: Languages! I speak Spanish, rusty Italian and fluent sign language! Now you know!}

We had these AMAZING winds today (up to 70 mph today)....leaving a lot of those I work with without electricity this morning! One of my coworkers showered with candlelight then came to work! wow! That's dedication!

Isn't God amazing, though? He gives us a January thaw (70 degrees yesterday!) just to give us a little rest from winter....he knows we'll need a rest before dealing with February and March!! The joy of the Lord is our strength and I am reminded of this everyday....everyday has it's hardships but we are victors in this life! The Spring is coming! Remember this:

The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior...He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:16-18

Isn't it great to know that God will rejoice over YOU with shouts of Joy? Shouts! Have a great week in the Joy of the Lord!
Blessings!
Kim

About me :)

Okay, SBS9...here's the stuff about me for my 'new' sisters on the blog....even if you know me, maybe you'll learn something new....

The Kim Marie Tutorial!

I'm a 44 year old wife, mom, speech pathologist, missionary stamper :) I have a million interests and obsessions (all healthy and clean, I promise!) and I love to laugh with my family and friends. I have two children who would argue whether they are still-indeed-children at 16 and 22 and two cats, Ollie and Grace. I don't cook much (my hubby is an AMAZING cook, but this is about me, tee hee!) but I DO love to chat and stamp! Card making is my real hobby...I've made a few small 6x6 albums without pictures, but I consider that making 20 card fronts and all is well. :) I've been married almost 25 years and plan on at least 40 more! We live in a rural part of NY near where my hubby and I grew up and, aside from the winter driving, love it! Our families are nearby! I work in a public school and for a local university teaching just one class a semester. I am very involved in our church and Mexico missions and whatever else God sets before us on our path! Between all that and following my daughter's soccer career, we are very busy people. Stamping has allowed me to slow down a bit when the 'stuff' is overwhelming! That's me in a nutshell! For further info, follow my blog! I am going to post once I week....there, I said it!!! Now, to keep my promise :) Oh, and, PS....I am NOT a KimBERLY....I am a Kim Marie....thus, my use of my middle name....so much better for me, as I am rarely "burly"! Tee hee :)

Oh, and a few more cards to see! These were also inspired by Kurtis' challenge!

The first one is a mother-daughter card, as my daughter the budding artist colored the image with my prismacolor pencils and Gamsol mineral spirits! We work so well together! When I retire to write children's books, I want her to illustrate them for me!

For the recipe details of the card, click this link. You may notice the edges of the ribbon are somewhat frayed. To be honest, the ribbon did not cut cleanly....so I decided to pull out some of the thread and use it as a style embellishment...it looks way better in real life!! This snowplay is a GOOD part of winter, which is why I bought this Gina K stamp set, Got snow? I have to find the reasons to enjoy winter!!

Did I tell you I have snowshoes? We're expecting high temps this weekend in the 30's and 40's, but when the snow returns, I'll be snow shoeing this winter!!

For the details of this card, click here! I made this one for a friend at work who is retiring to spend time with her grandchildren! Happiness in grandchildren grows BIG TIME, and kids grow so fast. I was happy she could take the time to spend the rest of her life enjoying them without work interfering!!

I used some stickers from a scrapbooking kit from Stampin' up. This kit was a hostess gift set from the last catalog. Even if you are a cardmaker, these kits are FULL of wonderful stuff and quality of the stickers is amazing! They are cardstock weight and look great on cards, I think! (No I don't sell the stuff, but I COULD!)

I used a direct to paper technique, dragging my purely pomegranate inkpad along the edges of the paper. I love that color. It turned out very pretty!

If you don't have it now, be sure to get some of that Purely Pomegranate ink before the end of the year (it is only available 'til July)! You know, I REALLY don't sell the stuff! :) But I DO have parties twice and year and order monthly, so if you need me to hook you up.....HA! shameless plug, sorry!!

Anyhow! I hope to check out some chickas blogs in my SBS9 group, so this is probably my post for the week! Hope you liked it!

Blessings!

Kim

Sketching with JOY!

Welcome, sisters of the stamper's blog! Thanks for all you nice comments! First, I want to share some cards I talked about making in an earlier post. I was following a sketch provided in a stamper's blog I follow, Kurtis Admundson. He is an amazing designer and his cards always make me happy :) Here is my take on his sketch...Hey, check out his blog while you're online!

Kim

I think this is my favorite one of these two, although the more I look at the cards the more I like both of them equally! I used a black card base...I know...so NOT me! But my aunt gave me an AWESOME assortment of random stationary stuff and in it there was a batch of black base cards. I wanted to use this Martha Stewart ribbon I got at Michael's (50% off after Christmas! SCORE!) so I thought it might look classy to put it on black. I used SU's real red ink and the Baroque Motif set I've been DYING to use for months. Adding a diamond brad in the center of the flower and two black brads on either side finished it nicely, don't you think?? I love clean lines!

Do you think I should add something else?

Now this card, I decided, needed that bohemian touch...and Baroque Motif works for that feel too! I earned this paper at my last SU party; it came in a scrapping kit Happy Me, I think....this Soft sky textured paper is so pretty! It's the subtlest of blues...it almost looks grey here, but the blue is obvious in "real life". All the stamps are from the set with the exception of the 'so' which are clear stamps from an alphabet set I also bought at Michael's. The corner was dying for an embellishment, so I added a prima flower and then punched the blue flower from the bordering blue color cardstock and ink I used to layer the kind image and as the contrast strip and flourish ink. A sky blue brad pulls it together. I distressed the edges of the paper with my bone folder (I don't have a distressing tool....YET!! :) I love blurry lines :)

What do you think?

More sisters?! JOY!!

Yes, I know...I have three wonderful sisters already! And I love all three of them! Hi Kelly, Kristy and Kori!! Today, however I have joined with some Stamping sisters and am now a member of the Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers Group 9. Hey! Nine is {FINE} You can see the banner to the right of this post.

I know, right. Pink.

Yeah, well the other colors wouldn't post right....and just my luck, pink worked! Ah well, it's a good contrast to my ever so greenness! (It's just that the color combo reminds me of college...anyone out there remember the Izod shirts? Yeah, eek!)

So, what's this sisterhood all about, you ask? Well, for one thing I get to 'meet' even more stamping pals...or as my daughter would say "stamping cult buddies"! LOL! And it's an encouragement forum where we can all look at each other's blogs and say, "Cool stuff." And those who know me well, know that encouragement is a gift God has blessed me with, and wants me to share with others. And who better than fellow....ur, uh, I mean to say Sister....stampers. {Okay, I encourage a few fellows, too. Love Stamping Kub's blog! Inspiring!} So it sounds like fun, doesn't it?!

In a few days, when we get the official, "this-is-everybody-in-your-group" list, I'll post a link to the other stamping bloggers blogs in my group and we'll officially begin the fun! I've already read a little about those that have already signed on...they're from all over the world! I'll post an "a little about me" post too, as a way of introduction! I adore meeting new people! See you in a few!!

Oh, and I'll share some pictures then following a sketch Stamping Kub has on his blog! My camera battery is charging or I'd do it now! Zing!

Be blessed this weekend, my friends!! Woo-hoo....it's the weekend!!! (Well, it's so CLOSE, I can feel it!)

:)
Kim