The Greatest of these

Some of you may remember my Wizard of Oz inspired card, here, that I made for the Cinema Saturday Challenge a few weeks ago. This week's challenge is from the movie Emma, based on a book of the same name by Jane Austen, written in 1815. I read the book in a women's literature class in college, but had never seen any of the movies based on the book. After seeing the challenge on the blog this week, I went on my Netflix and watched this 1996 version with Gwyneth Paltrow and LOVED IT!

Emma is a natural matchmaker who works her charm to match up couples from her group of friends...never realizing how much trouble one can get into when "involving oneself" in others' affairs ;) It's a fun and clean (!) love story and one I think you would really enjoy!
Here is my inspired card from the movie:

The DP actually has a sheen to it which you are able to see if you enlarge the picture.
I chose this scripture because faith, hope and love were all in the movie! And dancing scenes were some of the most beautiful parts of the movie. For the challenge, the card also had to have dots in it somewhere. My dancers image is from Gina K's Heartfelt Hits 1, which I paperpieced with SEI's dotted, double-sided DP. The scripture is one of many from Cornish Heritage Farms Scripture Essentials I. I also used SU's mellow moss CS and Fiskar's Victorian corner rounder punch. No doubt this card will end up as a wedding or anniversary card somewhere down the line!
I was going for a card that was simple yet elegant....much like Emma, herself :)
Have an amazing week!

Well, hello there :)

I've had quite a quiet and selfish day, watching old movies, stamping a bit and even a little teeny bit of house cleaning. Nice to have a day like that once every 100 years or so! Here is a card I am posting that I made today for PTI's color challenge. We had to make a card that used the colors on one of PTI's designer projects for Nichole's new release...this is inspired from Dawn McVey's blog...she is a tremendous designer! I used PTI's Summer Sun and Berry Sorbet Ribbon, Ink and cardstock and PTI's Floral Frenzy Stamp set. I wanted something warm and summery and these are two of my favorite PTI colors. Check out Nichole's new release tonight...the party is in the PTI forum starting at 10 pm, but the new stuff isn't available until midnight....can you make it?! Check out Papertreyink.com!

Sunny blessings and have a warm and cozy Sunday!

Stamping is art :)

Card details: SU CS, Basic Grey Euphoria DP, Inkadinkadoo stmp, Stamping Bella EmBELLAshments donuts and dots colored with Copics

I forgot to share this! This card follows the CPS #100 sketch like the CAS card I posted last week or so, but with a little bit looser twist to the sketch layout. I love this quote! {Thanks, Rox for loaning me the stamp...I will give it back! LOL!}

I made this card to give to a teacher I work with who is really a kindred spirit...and she also happens to be my classroom neighbor and the elementary art teacher!! She has this great easel outside of her room and she often puts a famous work of art out so that we can enjoy great masterpieces as we walk up the hall. We have what I call a mutual fan club....she likes my quotes and I love her artwork. It's a good deal all around.

Who is a kindred spirit in your life?


PS We have pouring rain and almost 60 today...nice change, but the flooding is not good and tonight winds are coming (45-60 mph) and the temp will be dropping into the teens for tomorrow...brrrr.....winter is back!! Boo hoo! Back to the UK with you, I say!! ;)

EDITED TO ADD: We ended up having a snow day {no school! no school!} today! (Thursday)...actually...more of a super-windy, slushy rain day! LOL! As my friend and fellow educator, Ann said...it's a gift!! :) No excuses for me not to make a new card, right?! ;) ~K

Holding up

God is with us where we are, no matter where that is. Three friends of mine lost a parent last week and so I made them a card. I pray for strength for them as they go through these days, knowing that God will sustain them every painful and difficult time. Hold up your burdens and Jesus will carry them for you. He promised and His promises are true!

Card Details: All Prism Purple paper, Gina K's Whimsical Autumn Set (Pussywillow image) SU White craft ink, SU scripture sentiment

Blessings!

Thanks for being YOU! :)

This is a Thank you card for my bestest friend Sandy for the marvelous time we had together a few weeks ago! She is always so great at cooking delicious food, making sure everyone is happy and coming up with fun and new games to play when our families get together! Sandy's favorite color is RED, so I really juiced it up using alcohol inks (poppy and copper) and Gina K's cream sateen flowers colored with one of my red Copic markers. The images are SU's Thank you Kindly hostess set.

This card also works for our SBS9 triple challenge {Make a card using the multiple of 3's}
:) and I am entering it in Nichole's 2nd Anniversary PTI challenge for today as well!

Thank YOU blogging friends for all your comments and lovely thoughts. You are really good friends to me too! My favorite stamping friends as a matter of fact!

Are you F.R.O.G?

This little card was made for a friend of mine whose life has been quite a trial lately. Long ago and far away, I wish God had told Adam not to worry about that little bite of the apple and that we could have continued to hang all out in Eden for generations and forever, but if Adam was anything like the rest of us, he would have bitten more than we could chew eventually!

But praise our God, He thought of a different way to save us from ourselves. Jesus came and died for us and now we have new lives in Him that will get us back into paradise :) Some days in this world though, it's easy to say we're new creatures, but not so easy to do it with faith that all will come out for the best in the end. How do we live through times like these that try the soul?

Card Details: Basic Grey Euphoria DP; Dollar Clear Stamps {thanks Manna!}, Gina K Sateen flower colored with Copic Red, SU cardstock, SU's Glorious Green Ink

Well, the only answer is this: by fully relying on the One that we know will never leave nor forsake us, never let us down or leave us out--He gives us the key to living with JOY as we are His children and He gives us good gifts of grace and mercy, strength and faith....but to take His gifts, we must trust that His plans for us are the BEST that there could be and that maybe we just don't know everything there is to know about everything there is to know! I know one thing...I can't do this life alone--I need God! So yes, I'm Fully Relying On God!

Go FROG! You'll be hoppy you did! ;)
Have a blessed week!

A great day and a Challenge posted!

Hi all! Happy weekend!

I spent today doing some of my favorite things! I had breakfast with a friend and fellow stamping junkie, Ann. Then we went to the new Staples in our little town and checked out the crafty side of stationary stores...fun, too. Then we came home to my house and stamped and chatted and stamped some more! What a great day!

I have been making cards on and off this past week, but it seemed while each one was close to being done, no one was completely finished...so today, I finished them off and they are some of my favorites I've made so far! The only one I am posting today is a challenge card I made as part of Papertreyink's 2nd Anniversary....I have several baby showers coming this month, so here's one of the first baby cards to come. I used Nichole's Dot to Dot challenge sketch from her blog:

My card uses PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings stamp set...I paper pieced the elephant...the images in this set just cry out to be paper pieced! After stamping and cutting out Elly, I also Xyron-ed her and covered her in Dazzling Diamonds. Isn't she so cute!?

I also used Bitty Baby Blessings Patterned Paper from PTI as well as Nicole's Lemon Tart and Plum Pudding CS...the color is more of a subtle yellow IRL, but it came out a bit of a richer yellow in the picture. The 3 little baubles are EmBELLAshments from Stamping Bella. I did add the trim on the left hand side to follow the sketch: a strip of Lemon Tart cut with scallop scissors and pierced on each scallop.

I'm quite pleased with it! It also enters me in a chance to win wonderful things from PTI...check it out for yourself! Nichole has a new and fun thing happening every day, so check in often; her new stamps come out on the 15th!
Have a blessed Sunday!

CAS CPS GKD !! KWIM??

Hi everyone! Here's me blogging from home, sick with a sinus headache and a toothache and throwing out acronyms at the pace of a freight train! Actually, I'm posting my latest creation which I happen to adore...it came together so easily, it's almost scary {the process, not the card!}
To let you in on the letter thing....this card uses a stamp set from Clear Artistic Stamps (CAS) Girly Girls line called "Hearts and Lace". I used the Card Positioning Systems (CPS) sketch for this week, which is featured by Gina K Designs (GKD). Now do you know what I mean? (KWIM?)

I just love the poem on the front, written by Belinda I believe. In case you can't read it through the glitter, it says, Give me buttons and bows, Lavender and Lace, Then sprinkle some glitter all over the place!

After stamping and coloring the image with Copics, I ran the image through my Xyron and covered it in Dazzling Diamonds. The photo colors are off a bit, as it was hard to photograph it without all the glitter reflecting and covering up the image. In real life (ahem, IRL) it looks more gorgeous! The ribbon behind the image is from Belinda in a little grab bag I won over at the CAS forum. The DP is Basic Grey's Euphoria {anyone else using up all their BG DP? Love it!}

Oh, and my friend Jolene has tagged me! I need to post the 6th photo from the 6th folder in my Pictures folder and then explain it. Here it is:

This was one of the 6 x6 pages I made in the wedding scrapbook I made for my friend Kelly who got married this last fall :) Funny thing, it was one of the pics from the album which I did not share on my blog! There you go!

Now I pick 5 more to tag?? How about
Roxanne
Kathy
Wendy
Becky
Deby

Remember all, post your 6th pic from your 6th folder in your My pictures folder. KWIM?? LOL! Please pray for my cold/sinus/toothache if you would. Appreciated in advance!

Love ya!

Wizard of Oz Challenge!

This card is for the Cinema Saturday Challenge at Sankari's blog here. Melanie of Heart, Head , and Hands blog {link on the Tee on my Right-->} mentioned the challenge on her blog and I started thinking about trying it. Then, I couldn't fall asleep last night and suddenly POOF! This idea hit me! And I had to work and wait all day today to finally sit down and make the card look like what I imagined! And it does!!

Every week Sankari challenges us to make a card inspired by a particular movie...this week's flick is the Wizard of Oz. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when the group led by Dorothy to see the Great Oz comes across a big barrier...a gigantic door! It is their first encounter with the palace inhabitants and of course, they are challenged and changed drastically from that point on! You know, Dorothy had to discover the secret of getting back home...and my card opens to reveal...

Card Details: Clear Artistic Stamp's Shimmer paper, SU Night of Navy, Versamark, SU silver embossing powder, CB Textile folder, OTC brads and flowers.

...the simple idea that the secret is within yourself! One must wish and believe...and miracles will happen! Don't those flower brads remind you of the doors with a big knob in the middle? That's what I thought of! And I just couldn't bring myself to embellish these doors any more than just with the Textile CB embossing...so pretty! Part of the challenge was using something metallic on the card and mine fits in perfectly as both my doors and the flower "knobs" are metallic. Hey, I have a chance to win a Gina K set! And so do you! Check out the challenge and play along! It was REALLY fun!

{I should probably tell you that as much loved as this movie is by the ages, my little sister Kristy was so creeped out by this movie when we were kids, I think she had nightmares for a year! Of course now Horror is one of her favorite movie genres....go figure! LOL!}

Icicles, 25 years and a baby card!

Hello :) How are you all? Blessed I hope! This has been a week of blessings and God has been so good! Just to share a few of the reasons why I can smile even when times are tough :)

This was the view outside my bathroom window this week...Yeah, that's snow and ice. Ewww. But it is also one of the most beautiful views around this week...even more lovely from inside, LOL! We had record low temps, some dipping into two digit numbers BELOW ZERO! Whoa. Luckily we were in heat wave mode today....almost 25 degrees :)

This was the cake that my friends Heather, Joe and Melanie surprised us with when we went to their house for dinner this past weekend! Our anniversary kind of came and went with nothing special and we were so so blessed and surprised when they made it a celebration! Heather, Mel and my hubby John and I went to high school together! Yes, we still keep in touch after all these years...mostly because Heather calls me, so she gets all the credit! We have been picnicing with our kids for years and she is so sweet to have made the effort to celebrate for us! She gave us a beautiful silver frame and Mel gave us a gift card. So so nice! I will be making their Thank you cards soon, so stay tuned!! :) Below is a pic that was snapped of my DH and I that evening. Aren't we so cute?! We've been dating "together" for 29 years! Wow, huh?

And finally, this is a card I made for my friend Jim and his family to celebrate their new baby boy, Noah {born on Christmas!}. It is their fourth child and first boy! I used some DELICIOUS 85 lb. Sparkles and Shimmers paper from Clear Artistic Stamps to cuttlebug-emboss the card's image...isn't it great how it shimmers even in the photo!? My favorite CB cardstock to emboss is the metallic CS. It came in an assortment pack, so I have a nice variety of shades.

As it was Jim's first boy, I wanted to use a more masculine color scheme, so I also used SU's Chocolate chip and Creamy caramel cardstock and PTI's perfect match chocolate ribbon {hard to see on the bottom right}. And I just love the sentiment.

So all in all, God has been good this week, don't you think?! Be blessed in all you do this week and know that God is!

Have faith

Card details: Basic Grey paper, Memento Ink, Unity stamps and SU Riding Hood red and Mellow Moss CS

In this day and time of seemingly endless unrest and economic question marks, I feel like I need to remind myself daily that a small dose of faith and a belief that God is acting truly on our behalf to bless and protect no matter how we are seeing our circumstances, is all we need to make the mountains in our lives move!

Keep up your spirits and know that God sees. He really really does. Be blessed today, won't you?

Cute couple! Now a favor!

Hi all!
Hey, I need a favor! My friend and co-teacher, Tess, and her fiance met through a dating service and now they are trying to win their dream honeymoon by being voted Most Inspirational couple! They are getting married this summer, but if you're not opposed to it, would you consider voting for them? Click here to go directly to their page...they're in top 10 but we want them to be number one!! Awww...thanks!

So very lovely!

Melanie sent me some flowers ;) and had this link on her blog; I thought it was very cool and so so spring-y that I wanted to share it with you! For a wonderfull whiff of spring, read the next sentence for directions and then click here! {{When you get there, put your mouse over the screen and CLICK some whimsical flowers all over the place!}} We are getting snowy blizzards on blizzards and will be getting lots of FRIGID temps coming here in the next few days, so I can use all the spring I can get! Stay warm and cozy!

Lovely!

Well, it's been awhile since I've been so awarded and thanks to my friend, Deby aka The Sofa Lady, I have been blessed with this Lovely Blog award! How sweet of her to think of me :)

I would love to pass this one to 7 other bloggers I adore! I know that it is sometimes hard to think of seven others to pass it to, but if you can it would be so fun!

Sue at Slumber Cards always makes me smile with her creations
Manna at Out of the East who always blesses me, {especially the technique junkie in me}
Holly at Glitter, Stamps and Ink (oh, my!) always inspires and is so sweet!
Lori at Make a Difference who always always makes me smile, blesses me and inspires!!
Jolene at Stampin' for Sanity is new to blogging and doing an amazing job at it...OMGracious!
Louise at "Creations" who is trying out her newest blog and is sharing some fabulous stuff all the way from across the pond!
Erika at A mama who stamps who is ENDLESS in her creativity and love of the craft and who is a blessing as a mom and as an artist!

These ladies are amazing people and their blogs amazing stuff...go visit!

Happy blessed weekend, everybody!

Risking it all to blossom!

This is a card I made using one of my very first Unity Stamp Company Stamps! I first saw Unity Stamps products in real life at the Crafter's convention I went to last summer....I knew I would fall in love with every single one and so for awhile I avoided even looking on their site...I didn't need another line in my budget if you know what I mean?? {or does the fact that the word budge is in "budget" 'cause you gotta MOVE stuff over??? Hmmmm..... } Well, I just couldn't ignore that last banner ad I saw on SCS and I took the plunge....and I was right....I LOVE THEM ALL!!! The stamps come unmounted and were packaged so beautifully in chocolate brown mesh bags! How wonderful is THAT? The stamps are made from red rubber and this image inked up gorgeously! Isn't the font so pretty??

This stamp I actually purchased with my daughter in mind. She is a senior in high school and going to college next year. I would be less than honest if I didn't admit that I am usually teary eyed most days just thinking of her going into the big world without me! Well, to be entirely honest, I'm being left in the big world without her! So to be an encouragement instead of a mom who can't let go, I saw this sentiment and HAD to have it so I could make her a card. Sappy, huh? The floral paper is basic grey's Euphoria that I purchased from Gina K, the ink Momento's Grape jelly and the flower from my old silky flower collection that my gramma gave me many many many years ago! I used my copic markers to color the center to make it look like a pansy and to match the colors of the card (it was kind of yellow-y and I needed purple-y! LOL!) What think ye??

And we finally had a day with less snow...only a flurry now and again. How's the sky look where you are?
Blessings!

A pic and pixies

Just thought I'd share the last page of the wedding album....this was an image sent in a swap from one of my SBS9 sisters...colored with copics, I thought it the perfect way to end the book :)

And since we are now thigh-deep in snow (lots more today...arghhh!!) I thought I'd throw in a picture we took in Niagara falls way back when life was sunny, warm and green!! Here are Kalene, my son's long time girlfriend, our girls, Kelsey and Mejse (from Denmark) and the beautiful Niagara River about an hour from our house....ah, to be wearing tee shirts and shorts again! Sigh....

Although we are buried in snow and freezing up here in NY, God has been so good! We are all getting where we need to go and arriving home safely! I hope you are staying warm and cozy whereever you may be! Blessings and warm hugs!

More pages

Just wanted to share some more pages in the wedding album ;)

Another page using PTI's First Fruits DP and some yummy swiss dotted ribbon! The brad's from OTC :)

I love this page set...I hope the hyperlink works...I used some DP I got at the dollar store a long time ago and then PTI's Quilted Sampler set to make the other page. Sentiments are also from this AMAZING set! If you are a quilter, you will need this set...Oh, I can't quilt for real. I know because I tried and tried and tried...but it is just is NOT my gifting! I love them very much, though, and always had a secret wish that someday someone would make a quilt just for me! But alas, there is a reason I don't have the gift...I think it's hereditary and absolutely no one in my family quilts either! At least now I can "quilt" on paper! Darlene, the bride's mom is a MASTER QUILTER and Kelly quilts herself!! So this page is for them ;)

This page was really easy and actually has no stamping. I did cuttlebug the vellum, layered it on more dollar store paper and added two dollar store stickers...Voila! See how easy this kind of project can be?!

Be blessed and stay warm in your corner of the world!

A Wedding attended :)

I forgot to mention that one of the things we've done since Thanksgiving! We attended the wedding of a daughter of our very good friends, the Hulls. Their daughter Kelly is like a family member, as our kids have grown up together and our DHs were scout leaders together! I wanted to post the pictures of the wedding album pages I put together for her shower gift...I guess you can call it a scrapbook, but really, it's just a series of 20 card fronts put into a post album....all she needs to do is add the pictures!! I've done about six of these so far for brides and new moms...they always love them :) I'll spread the pix out over several posts so you can tell me what you think! {Oh! the cover above was made with a card I did not make myself, but that I received in a Cornish Heritage Farms card swap I did a long time ago...sorry I don't know which wonderful woman made the card...I just used it for the cover! The designs on the cover are from Cornish Heritage Farms wonderful images!!}

Now, here is a fun image...the mice I received from an image swap with my SBS9 sisters and I believe they are Penny black :) Love PB! The little sentiment is from PTI's Little Lady set.

This was one of my favorites....using Stampin' Up's old designer cardstock, some SU Rub ons and some clips from SU's hodgepodge hardware, these pages went together lickety-split!

I totally fell in love with this next page...the first one in the wedding album! I used the DP from Papertreyink's gorgeous patterned paper series First Fruits; the Unity Sticker I received from one of SBS9 sisters and I finished it off with some of that delicious SU ribbon in Red Riding Hood with gold trim!! I thought the knot was a perfect "embellishment" for a page about being united!

The best part about making these albums is that I always make each one different, specific to whomever I am making the album for...in this case, Kelly and Charlie are all about farm and country (they had each guest table at the wedding named for a different tractor!) and Kelly's dad is a dairy farmer so she grew up on a farm! As I make the album I enjoy the time spent thinking of that person...it's so much more special to me that way! Hope you enjoyed the first peeks...more to come!

Be blessed today!!

Rainbows and Mondays

It's back to school Monday :) Now don't you feel better when the news is delivered with a sparkly rainbow? Tee hee!

Oh and check out my friends, the Curry's, new blog Curry's Creations!!! Congrats Wendy and Eric! Leave them a comment welcoming them to Blogland, won't you?

Have a blessed week!

Happy New Year to the Frog Faithfuls :)

It's a new year and a new day :) Praise God!

Time at the helm of my computer has been at a premium, but that's okay! We all know how life is...and it's both crazy and a blessing, so although I have missed sharing life and cards with you, I have been thinking of you quite often!

So what's been happening since our state soccer championship WAAAAAAY back in November?? Well,

10. We served over 200 meals again this Thanksgiving to Go at church! What a wonder to see a group of God's faithful servants working side by side to GIVE!

9. Our 2 girls have been busy with social calendar duties, snow boarding, parties, snow shoveling (see #8) and sleeping in on their vacation days 'til NOON!

8. We've had two blizzards resulting in several snow days from school (YAY!). Between storms we had a week of 50 degree weather melting all the snow in between. No worries...the second storm dropped 11'' in a day and its all still here!

7. My 1 son came home twice (both holidays) and stayed a few days so we got to see him...his hair has grown out for the first time in his life and I barely could recognize him, but he's still my adorable boy!

6. My DH was one of the three "wise guys" in our annual Christmas Eve service with his memorable line: "Look over yonder doth break the shine of a bright star!" Memorable because he had to practice it over and over for several weeks to get it right so we all learned the line!

5. Card making time was also at a premium--squeezed in over a period of weeks a few minutes at a time...I kept changing the design, as I never seemed happy with it....I ended up making 70+ cards between our own family cards, my SBS sister cards, John's "mailman thank you" cards and friend cards....and this year I made them by myself mostly....everyone else was really really busy :) LOL!!

4. We got our tree early!! December 21st! It's still up of course.....I'm thinking it can come down Martin Luther King Day....but then, I will be gone for a wedding....hmmmm....maybe Valentine's day!

3. I got a new laptop computer :) YAY! Now if I can get a wireless router, I can blog anywhere and not have to compete for the computer room! It's almost too good to imagine!

2. My mom finally got out of a hospital and is in a rehab program where she is doing well, getting up and about and looking fab! For my faithful prayer partners....thanks more than I can say!

And NUMBER ONE!!
My prayer life is increasing 10000-fold. With today's economy issues, raising teenagers, work stresses {you would NOT believe the paperwork burden on special education..especially in NY!}, family and friend illnesses, severe winter driving, and a tiring tiring schedule, I can only do any of this with God's help. The book of James has really been a godsend! I've been reading it over and over again!

How's this for encouragement-- James 1:1-6
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. and then James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I've also read the book The Shack this month (thanks for the loan, Carolyn!). Oh my goodness friends...you have GOT to read this book! Get it out of your library if you don't want to buy it or borrow it as I did, but definitely read it! Don't worry if the description of the content seems disturbing at first...really, you must look into reading it! It'll only take a weekend...of course it took me three weeks reading a bit at a time....but I know this....YOU WILL BE BLESSED!

You are all in my heart and my prayers! Be well and blessed, dear friends!
Love ya!