Hey there, Chick!

And you thought I would be gone for a while, didn't you?! :) I had this in mind a couple days ago--this is my 2nd card for Nicola's sketch #5. Oh ya, that brown stuff isn't brown...it's Dazzling Diamonds (click the pic to see it larger). I printed the saying with my computer and punched it out with SU!'s punch. The cute chick is by Snag ém Stamps, over at Mothers and Daughters Creations.

This was a really quick card to do. Not too fussy. Stress-reliever for me really, because I'm so in over my head right now with work, so my wonderful hubby took the girls to their swim lessons tonight and told me to relax. :) This was my way of relaxing--love making cards. Ok, now back to work. Ciaó for now!

Trust in the Lord...

That's what I've been doing wrong this week. I'm not trusting the Lord to get me through. This week has been overwhelming for me. I was sick with the flu last week, and as soon as I went back to work Monday, I was overwhelmed with tons of typing for both my jobs (I'm secretary for 2 churches). They both require a monthly newsletter to go out this week, and one boss decided to write a book for his write up--it's seriously 8 pages of pure 12-font typing! (Edited: it's now 12 pages long!! HELLO--what is he thinking??!!) Then I have to add in calendar and articles of happenings. This is very unusual, but he wanted it in there! We also had about 15 people come in on Monday wanting/needing food bags. Don't get me wrong, I love to be able to help them out, however, the way our church pantry works, is we let them choose what they want to fill their bags and it can take quite a while, so very little work got done. Now I'm cramming--working on typing til about 10 p.m. last night and I'll be up later tonight working. It's kinda like when you don't have the money to fill your gasoline tank, so you keep stopping and putting about $5 in at a time and you never get very far. Constantly wondering when you're going to run out and worrying where you'll be when it quits! Ya...that's how I feel. I really need to get energized but the work's not done.

What am I neglecting to do? Take time for myself? Spend quality time with my family? Spend time in prayer and devotions? ALL OF THE ABOVE!! So, I'm just letting you know that I will prolly not be posting again til next week, or maybe the weekend? I need to get this work done, and then recuperate and get re-energized.

Oh ya, about this card... almost forgot! I made this a few weeks ago for my secret sister, TA. Her favorite colors are browns and burgundy. I like this verse, so I printed it with my computer and used glitter pens to doodle the flower border. The top floral layer and the Artichoke are actually cut in an oval, creating a frame for the verse underneath. :) Thanks for dropping by!

A TISKET, A TASKET...

I MADE A BASKET!!
And YOU can too! Get out your favorite color of 12x12 cardstock, a glue stick, 12"cutter, and some ribbon, and then go follow Laura Canale's tutorial <HERE>.

I have to say, I wanted to add strips of turquoise and more purple to go with my ribbon but couldn't picture what it would look like, so after the tiny purple strips I chickened out and went all green for the rest (Gable Green, textured c.s.) Oh well. Next time I might stick to all one color :o) These are so easy to make, although takes some time. I love Laura's finishing strips--makes it look like a real basket! THANKS LAURA!!

Sketch #5 Entry

Nicola over at "My Paper World" puts up a new sketch every 2 weeks for people to try. Here's my entry for her current sketch. I had some fun with the sewing machine on this one. The base is actually Tempting Turquoise, textured c.s.--my picture's just a little off color. I used my 2 sizes of KF Snap Stamps to create the saying on the bottom which says "All work and no play can make you a basketcase!!" :o)
AND ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

We have a bunch of babies!! Most of the calves are boys--yellow tags are boys and green are for girls. They actually are our neighbors', but they come right up to our back yard and my daughters just LOVE watching them, taking notes of them, naming them etc. etc. Too funny. This li'l fella my daughter named "Kelly". They keep track of them by their number. Isn't he cute?

MORE HAPPY MAIL!!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, as I always say! :o)
Trina M. of Trina's Timeless Treasures sent me this little 'treasure' for my birthday. She's such a sweet lady and a very talented stamper!! I saw this on her blog and just loved it--isn't that the cutest li'l cupcake? I love how she cut the c.s. wavy like that, and of course the nestabilities (I think?) for all those cute scallop circles! Also, she stamped a bunch of super cute images of Magnolias, House Mouse, Bellas etc. THANKS SO MUCH, Trina!!

Trina's mom, Ila, of Artfully Ila nominated me for this "Excellence" award:

Awww...thanks so much!! I'm very honored. Ila is known for her awesome coloring and detailed cards. We know where Trina gets her talent ;o) They should go into business together! I'm not sure what the "rules" are for passing on this award, and since I've been ill lately, I haven't been blurfing for a while, so I will definately get around to nominating more of you excellent bloggers in the near future. THANKS AGAIN ILA!! :)

Thanks for being a friend!

My friend Gena sent me this pretty card! I'm so glad we've gotten to know each other better. I met Gena through blogs and then as we got to know each other, our daughters are the same age and they started chatting through email. It's great to have pen pals and prayer pals. We've been praying for their school principal (who was ill) and for their family for these past few months. I really feel that when the Lord is present in a relationship, it makes that bond so much stronger than those that don't. Thank you so much for the lovely card Gena! OOHugsOO
BTW...I found this online and thought I'd share it with you as I've always wondered about this.
Where did the custom of putting Xs and Os at the bottom of a letter come from?
The first mention in literature of XXX for kisses at the bottom of a letter was in 1901, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The X itself is very old. The custom goes back to the early Christian era, when a cross mark or "X" was the same as a sworn oath. The cross referred to the cross of Calvary and the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos.

Even as little as a hundred and fifty years ago, not many people could read or write. The "X" at the bottom of a document took the place of a signature. They would kiss the "X" as a crucifix or bible was kissed to emphasize the importance of the mark. It was this practice that lead to the "X" representing a kiss.

There isn't much known about the beginnings of the "O". It is a North American custom. The "O" represents the arms in a circle around another person. Arms crossed in front of you do not mean the "X" as a hug! The "O" is the hug.

In "The Joys of Yiddish" by Leo Rosten, it is noted that illiterate immigrants (or those who did not know Roman-English letters) would generally sign entry forms with an "X" but Jews preferred an "O" to avoid making something that looked like a cross. Also, shopkeepers and salesmen would similarly sign receipts with a circle. Could this be the origin of the "O"?
Or could it have developed from the game of tic tac toe, where one player uses the "X" and another the "O", leading people to think that the "O" was the hug, as the "X" is the kiss.

Oriental Fan

Secret Sis Part 2: Oriental Fan
(click the pic to open a larger version)
Like I said in the previous post, TA loves anything oriental, so I set out to create an "oriental fan" using one of her favorite colors: Burgundy. The only flowers I had that resembled "oriental" was this stamp from my SU! Tags So Much--well, one of those "Tags" stamp sets anyway. I taped off the words and stamped the flowers several times onto white c.s. Then, I cut a large circle using my Creative Memories cutters. Decided how large to make the fan, I used my 12" straight edge cutter to cut the fan into pieces and then taped them onto black c.s. Then I pierced holes around the edge for stitching. Oh ya, I colored in the flowers & leaves with my Sakura Stardust Glitter gellyroll pens, so they are sparkly. The Burgundy b.g. is cuttlebugged with the "Textiles" folder. The "chinese" sentiment I got off the internet and printed from my computer. :)

**Day 3 of the flu....no fun. Took NyQuil last night, which I hate cause when I took it in college, I threw up blue liquid. Ya, sorry about that picture, lol. So, I've gotta be feeling like dying to take it. But none of the other cold/flu meds were working well enough. Feeling slightly better today, but have a terrible headache. Gotta go lie down. bye for now.

Down with the Flu

I came down with the terrible flu...again, and this time bronchitis decided to invade as well. SO...I won't be creating for a few days. So I thought this would be a good time to show you some of the cards I made for my secret sis, TA Carbone! We filled out questionnaires and I knew that she collects Panda Bears and loves anything oriental. These cute pandas are by Kritters in the Mailbox.

See what she made with this card <HERE> :)

This one is a "Kick Stand" card-- a challenge on SCS. Cíao!

Have you seen this?

Joe Malarkey, Ex-Scrapbook Consultant

My husband and I got a huge laugh out of this one! :)

**Dreamy**

These soft colors are kinda dreamy-looking, don'tcha think? :) I used the same dp as for my envie pouch in my previous post. Not much to say today. Got lots to do. Have a great day!

Easy Pouch Basket

Today's Technique Lover's Challenge was to make an Envelope Pouch. It's really easy and just uses a simple card envelope! Find instructions <HERE>. I had my mom in mind when making this one. There are a ton of REALLY adorable pouches in the SCS gallery--many Easter ones with bright colors...some envies are cuttlebugged even--GO CHECK IT OUT!

Here it is with some Werther's candies in it. I used SU!'s set, "In Full Bloom", stamped it in green Stazon, masked the flower, and stamped the leaves the same way. Then I colored in using SU!'s watercolor pencils and an aqua painter.

Here's one I made last night around 11 p.m., but I'm not terribly happy with it. Just not very "pretty" IMO. Maybe I'll use it for a guy?

Giddyupabella #2

Happy Monday yáll! (thought that was fitting for my card theme!) Here's a Z-Fold card I made today for a friend of mine. I followed these instructions for it: Z-Fold

Her favorite color is blue, so I started with my new Hostess Prints Pack - light blue and then I didn't know where to go from there. So, I started coloring my image (by StampingBella) - by the way, thanks again to Ally for the Bella images ;o) - and then I kinda went with grey and close to cocoa for the other colors since those were what I colored my image with. Hope they look okay together? (I colored with SU!'s watercolor pencils and an aqua painter.)

And here's a view from the top.

I added blue and crystal stickles to harness, blanket, her belt and hat ribbon to girlie it up a bit. The bottom sentiment is from "Riveting" set and the scallop border is from my new Sale-a-bration set "So Many Scallops". Then I punched it out using SU!'s flower punch, and punched another one out of the cocoa c.s. and put behind, altermating the scallops. Friend sent. is form the Noteworthy set. Thanks for looking!

A Special *THANK YOU*

Well, I usually don't like to announce who a card is going to before the person gets it, but I just HAVE to share this with you. My secret sister, Kandi, sent me this amazing CUTIE PIE of a girl from Whipper Snapper Designs, so I just had to sit down and make a card with her. I used this week's sketch challenge, found <HERE>

In my "reveal package" she also sent some stickles, which I've applied to all the flower centers, and these cute silver corner brads! As always, you can click on her to enlarge the picture. The designer paper is from a pack that my sister Kathy sent me for my birthday and is called "Miss Elizabeth's." The sentiment is from the SU! set called "Noteworthy"and the zig zags are clear stamps from Inky Antics.

THANK YOU KANDI for being such a terrific "sis" - hope to stay in touch!!

EDITED: I was asked what size this card is... the base (white here) measures 5 3/8" when folded so that it fits into a 5 1/2" envie. TIP: If you don't have a square envie, see instructions below:

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN 5 1/2" SQUARE ENVELOPE: I apologize for blurry pictures! Hope you can still see enough to get you through. These instructions are to make a template--of course your real envie won't need to have all these markings and folds.

Start out with an 8.5" square sheet of copy or printer paper.

Fold in half diagonally, open up and then fold other corners diagonally.

Mark where your center is with a pen. Then with a ruler, measure on the fold lines 1/2" from the center. Do this on all 4 fold lines.

Bring a corner across the fold line up to your 1/2" mark and crease. Open up that flap and do the same with the next corner, repeat with all corners.

On my template, I drew black lines so you can see the folds, but this is not necessary on yours. With scissors, cut out the nothces wherever the fold lines cross. There will be 4.

Fold in 2 opposite sides and put some permanent tape under the tip of the overlapping corner.

Now run tape along both edges of the bottom flap (facing up) and bring it up and rub over the outside. YOU'RE ALMOST DONE! Insert your 5 3/8" square card, run permanent tape along both edges of remaining flap and fold down!! Wha La!! :)

A FAB Blogger/Stamper Sited!!

I just came across this amazing stamper in the SCS gallery and I clicked through to her blog and she has some AMAZING stuff on there. Go See Barb Mullikin's blog if you haven't already--you'll be so glad you did!! :)

ADDED:
A NEWBIE SHOUT OUT!! My new blogger friend Diane Lapointe JUST started blogging this month!! She has some really cute stuff on her blog as well, so please go visit her awesome blog and leave her some comments!!

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU:
Just wanted to say thank you to my newest guestbook signees: Kelly S. from Enderby CAN, Laurie from MI, Fran G. from KY, Lisa Chavoustie from NY, and Rhonda G. from UT!!! Thanks so much for visiting my blog!! My readers make the effort very worthwhile!! :)

Birthday RAK

This birthday card came from Linda Spraggins today!! :) THANKS SO MUCH Linda!!

Secret Sis REVEAL!!

This is our reveal week for the 6-week Secret Sister Swap I've been in. First of all, I just want to say how FUN it's been surprising and being surprised over and over again!! My SS is Kandi Kwirant! THANK YOU SOO MUCH Kandi!! She wrote me such a nice letter. She doesn't have a blog, but if she had the time, I KNOW she'd have a ton of regular readers because this gal is a TOP NOTCH stamper!! I've been blown away by her talented and creative cards. OK...I have to show you what I received in my package: (click on the picture to enlarge and see those beautiful cards up close!)

Lollipop Valentines

The girls needed to make some valentines for some church friends today and I remembered Dawn's video tutorial on these lollipop holders, so here's what we made:

STAMPS: Happy Heart Day; Toucan of my Love

CARDSTOCK: Glorious Green; Tempt. Turquoise; Real Red; Pink Passion

Then tonight, after dinner, my husband and I exchanged small gifts/cards and I just had to show you what he got me... the 50th Anniversary Edition of "An Affair to Remember"-- the BEST love story on film--IMO!! ;o)

I first saw this movie when I was in college and my roommate and I took a much needed retreat to a beach house for a few days. This movie was 1 of only about 3 that the house had, so we watched it and I fell in love with it. I always cry at the end when he realizes that it was her in the wheelchair--Ok...that's all I'm giving away! Lol. The girls are waiting for Survivor to come on, but as soon as that's over, we're tucking them in and then Movie time for us. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Blame it on the neuroticism that plagues us stampers that makes one run out to the grocery store at almost 10 p.m. to buy just the right candy stix for her treat box so she can take a picture and post it on her blog the night before the holiday that she wants to give the treat box to her hubby because Lord knows that as soon as that alarm clocks goes off, she'll be up and at em...getting kids to school and herself off to work, and who knows what's gonna pop up during the afternoon that might get in the way of finishing such an important project and if THAT happens, well...she won't have her special valentine to give to her hubby and we can't have that now can we!!

Isn't this a CLEVER idea!! I get the "Scraps Chat" Newsletter sent to my inbox from All that Scraps store and this "Idea of the Week" came from Christina Fischer! If you click on her name, you'll go right to the picture tutorial on her blog for this cute bottle hanger treat box!! Here's a close up view of my little stamped piece:

Wishing all of you lots of love today--if not from a "significant other" than from those closest to you--your sister, brother, mom or dad, daughter or son, your best friends, your "Secret Sister", your blogging buddies, etc.

STAMPS: Happy Heart Day; Pun Fun (both from SU!)

CARDSTOCK: Real Red; Last year's Valentine Designer Paper

ACCESSORIES: Marvy Giga Scallop Circle Punch; CM's circle cutters; Sakura's Souflé pens; KF Snap Stamps; Signo White Gel Pen; Rectangle punch for ribbon; Su!'s scallop circle punch

Birthday Card from My Sister

My sister, Kathy sent me this cute birthday card. She doesn't have internet, so she can't do the blogging thing, otherwise I'd have her hooked by now I'm sure! Anyway, just wanted to show off her beautiful card.

Note About FACEBOOK

Hey all! Just a note to all of you blogstampers out there that may have gotten an email or some other message from Facebook... I have no idea what I'm doing with the Facebook thing. I'm really not familiar with it. Yesterday a friend at church asked me to sign up so I can view her videos and stuff for work etc. and next thing I know, I'm getting lots of emails saying that YOU guys have edited facebook options etc, etc. That's fine, but I want to you know that I don't know what I'm doing on there yet, so you won't be hearing from me through facebook for a while. Sorry!
P.S.
I'm working on something cute for V-day tomorrow! Stay tuned ;o)

My First *Hanna*

I decided to take the day off work today so I can do whatever makes me happy - since it IS my birthday and all! :) Well, besides getting caught up on some much needed laundry, I'm getting some blog browsing done and a little stamping. (We have birthday plans for later today, so I'll have to post tomorrow about that.) I received some HANNA stamps from my friend Donna Baker last week, so I thought I'd try today's color challenge with one of the images. I also used sketch challenge #134 (Tent Toppers).
I added Dazzling Diamonds to the puddle and raindrops and then filled in the puddle with Crystal Effects. The green layer is cuttlebugged with the Bloom Dots folder and then machine stitched with brown thread onto choc. chip c.s. My FABULOUS secret sister sent me some really cute stitched felt flowers with rhinestones in center--they're self-adhesive too which is soo nice! The dress is pieced in pink, which is not the color combo, but I thought it needed a little something to break up the green/turq.
I've already had a comment in my gallery that I should join a "Hanna Swap", but I don't acutally OWN any stamps...I made this with images that Donna sent me :) THANKS ANYWAY!! If/when I DO get some, I'd love to join!
NOW...just a note about the sentiment on this card: Donna stamped it - I'm guessing it came in the Hanna set, but it totally reminds me of the song "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me. I decided for today to go ahead and play that for you (on my slideshow at bottom of blog). This song is just awesome and speaks volumes. Here are the Lyrics:

"Bring The Rain"

I can count a million times

People asking me how I can praise You

with all that I've gone through

The question just amazes me

Can circumstances possibly

change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed

Long before these rainy days

It's never really ever crossed my mind

To turn my back on you, oh Lord

My only shelter from the storm

But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray - Bring me joy,

bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain.

I am Yours regardless of

The dark clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what's a little rain

So I pray-- (chorus)

Holy, holy, holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

AMEN! By the way, do you see my weather pixie today? It's 61 degrees right now!! :) Woohoo. Wish I could do some gardening. Too early for flowers--they'll freeze again soon. :(

V-Day Centerpiece Challenge

You prolly know the saying, "A day late and a dollar short" right? Well, this challenge is a week late (last Monday's) and I got these cute hearts on sticks at the dollar tree, so... :)

The challenge was to make a centerpiece--and they provided a link to these easy "Fortune Tellers" - Remember those? We use to make those in school all the time. These are really fun to make. I couldn't think beforehand what side to start my folding on to have to turn out the way I wanted. I would rather have had the pink paper with dark pink polka-dots showing, but oh well! Nothing stamped here. Was trying to show mom a couple fast things before she had to leave today, so I kept it simple. The candies are Hershey's Kissables. :) Thanks for stopping by!