Sleepy Fairy

**The Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge card for the Sunday 6/26 challenge.**

Another card - I love summer vacation! I get to make more cards and do my favorite things. Today I mowed the lawn (truly do love that task), 2 of our sons were here for dinner (BLTs), and I spent some hours organizing my craft room (still not done). It is also great to spend a few hours each day making a card without feeling guilty for not grading papers or planning lessons! 

This card was for the Inspire Challenge on StampTV.  That is where the colors came from and the sketch challenge is for Card Patterns Challenge 70. I have 6 granddaughters so this card will be used sooner or later. Thanks for the visit - I plan to have another card tomorrow so come back to see me!

Recipe:
Stamps: Wishes and Dreams by GinaK Designs
Paper: Pure Luxury Creme de Mint and Passionate Pink
Specialty Paper: DCWV paper Pack Nana's Kids
Other: Nestibilities circle and rectangle, Copics to color, stardust pens for sparkle and ribbon

Apron Card

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**The Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge card for the Sunday 6/26 challenge.**

Oh this was a fun card to make. I have a tendency to shy away from non-traditional cards so this was, in fact, a true challenge to me. I made this for JUGS, they also had the link to the template.  I also chose the colors for the StampTV color challenge this week which was to use pastels. I really played around with for a while before I actually made the card. I used Nina Bracket's Vintage Backgrounds to stamp the yellow of both the apron and stamped image of the apron. I paper pieced quite a bit and had to put the lace around the bottom of the apron because I am sure that Ozzie's Harriet always had lace on the bottom of her apron! Right? I really wouldn't know because I am not an apron person although I should be! Thanks for looking!

Recipe:
Stamps: Sew Pretty and Vintage Backgrounds sold by GinaK
Card Stock: So Safron from SU and Ducks in a Row paper pack from Basic Grey
Other: Lace, ribbon, and a couple of buttons 

Red Daisies

Happy Sunday! This week on SSCC (Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge) the verse is Isaiah 53:5 (KJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; And with His stripes we are healed. The challenge is to use stripes on the card. On reflection of the scripture verse I cannot help but think of the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for me - for us. There is a song that I listen to called "This Man" by Jeremy Camp. A couple of the lines in the song that just haunt me are: "Would you take the place of this man Would you take the nails from his hands?" If you would like to hear the song here is a link to YouTube and that song with a video segment from the movie "The Passion of Christ". It is graphic and makes me cringe and cry. 

The verse says more to me though - it speaks to me about love. The kind of love that lasts forever through good times and bad. We had a dear friend, Fr. Phil, the three of us worked many years together for World Wide Marriage Encounter. He was our spiritual adviser but more than anything, he was our friend. We still miss him since he went home to Our Father. He was a wonderful preacher\teacher\person and one of his favorite stories was to talk about the love of a man and a woman and often referred to a song called "A daisy a day". As husbands and wives we sacrifice for each other, we forgive each other, and we are so thankful to give each other a daisy a day. Fr. Phil used to sing this song and get a tear in his eye when he did. So this card has the stripes that heal relationships through the gift of forgiveness. We are all called to do that - every day - forgive others and forgive ourselves - every single day!

This card is also for a StampTV challenge to use a bow with a fancy button. Gotta love that button taken off of an old sweater of mine from when I was a smaller size!  

Also for the Speedy the Cat challenge to use 3 or more flowers.

Have a great week, I will be back next week for SSCC and during the week with some more summer cards to post. God Bless!

Recipe:
Stamps: Enjoy the Sunshine (GinaK)
Card Stock: GinaK Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion and Red Hot
Designer Paper: DCWV - Citrus
Extras: Cuttlebug folder, fancy button, red ribbon, corner punch   

Summer Fun

I just love summer! I know that some of that has to do with me be a teacher and having 8 weeks off, but it is more than that. I have time to do some things that I normally would not do such as organizing a closet or mowing the lawn or reading an entire book in just a couple of days. The absolute best part about summer is spending some time with those I love. I have a 33 year old mentally challenged daughter who lost her job and has too much free time. I also have lots of grandchildren. For Easter each of the grandchildren picked a "gift". Each gift had something different on it. Kylie picked lunch with Grandma and Aunt Katie. So yesterday I picked both of them up and we had lunch together. I have already done "make a craft with grandma" and "make chocolates with grandma". My DH has done already done "trip to Coldstone Ice Cream with grandpa", "go for a boat ride with grandpa", and has "Make chocolate chip cookies with grandpa" coming up. Next week Gabby and I will do lunch with just the two of us, I think she is picking CeeCee's Pizza. We both still have a few "just with grandpa or grandma" dates coming up. I am so incredible blessed!  

This card is going out in the mail today for 3 of my grandchildren who we do not get to spend time with. I make them a card every month and this one is for them. I love the bright sunny colors and I think that this card just screams SUMMER! This was also for a sketch challenge on StampTV. Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Stamps: Beach Bum - GinaK

Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury Turquoise Sea and Sweet Mango

Designer Paper: DCWV Citrus

Other: Copics to color, flower border punch, oval Nesties

 

Cody's Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated one of our grandson's birthday and I had to make him his own special card. So this is the card I made for Cody. It was also for a StampTV challenge. The challenge was to color using colored pencils. I am so into the Copics that it had been a while since I used that medium. It was fun. Cody is all boy so the card had to look boyish. At 6 he didn's spend much time admiring the card though! :-)

Recipe:
 Stamps: Candles on your cake, Oh Boy
Paper: Nook and Pantry from Basic Grey, GinaK Pure Luxury Ivory and Chocolate
Other: Prismacolor pencils - Cuttlebug folder - Crystal effects for the window - stickers for his name 

Thanks

Today I made a quick card for a couple of challenges. The first being for StampTV's Monday color challenge and the second being for Card Pattern's sketch challenge. I love  it when I can combine challenges! Thank you cards are probably the ones I make the most often and I am pretty good about sending them. So when I make a card for a challenge I either do not put a sentiment on the front or will go with a thank you. When I finished this card it looked like there was too much empty space under the basket of yarn so I stamped the thank you under it - and the thank you was crooked! I was so upset with myself! But the card is staying as is with lesson learned - when card is finished, leave it alone! Thanks for the visit!

Recipe:
Stamps: Nana's Needlework (GinaK)
Paper: Pure Luxury Vanilla, Green Grass and Latte Paper Pad
Ink: Memento Black
Extras: flowers - lilac pearls circle nestie, Copics  

Best Friend

Happy Father's Day to all fathers who are reading this blog! Okay ladies - just pass the message on to them. :-) Last week I was on vacation for 7 days with one of my oldest and dearest friends. We have been each others confidants for almost 40 years! From the moment we met at my marriage to her husband's  brother we clicked! We are more than sisters in law - we are friends. We have cried together, rejoiced together, and laughed together. Through all of those years we have both experienced some difficult times and have helped each other through them. Even though she has always lived in Wisconsin and I in Florida we have there for each other. Having a friend by your side is a gift. But being so many miles apart we also realize that our greatest treasure is our mutual best friend, Jesus. We share that bond that comes from  a total and complete trust  that God  is with us through it all, that we truly never walk alone. When I need prayers or she needs prayers we know that we are getting them AND we know that the prayers will be answered, not always the way we want but the way it should be. So the verse this week: Psalm 119:105 "A lamp to my feet is your word, a light to my path" speaks to my heart. That lamp is always on helping me on my way, thank you God! 

The challenge this week on Stamping Sisters in Christ is to make a card using no stamped images, just words. So this is what I came  up with. Funny sometimes how things work out. I had to run to Michael's this week and they were having a super sale  when I ran across these pressed flowers and leaves. I knew I had to use them and found the paper to match the flower - you do that too right? I also made this for the StampTV Inspire challenge. Have a wonderful day. Thanks for the visit and spoil the dads!

Recipe:
Stamps: Friends by GinaK
Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury grass green and wine with everything, DP was BG green at heart
Ink: Memento Black 
Accessories: pressed flowers, Nesties

Summer Memory

Here is my second card for Gina's challenge.Talk about getting it under the wire! Whew! This memory is of our summer vacations shortly after we came to the US. Our second summer here dad got a tent and we went exploring. My brother and I stuck together like glue that first summer. We used a map and explored the area around us in PA. Dad loved to take pictures so the camera is for that. The map was always on mom's lap wherever we went. Mom had a knack for knowing where we were and how to get home. That was really good considering the maps were in English and mom certainly couldn't speak it very well. Fun times - thanks for walking us through memory lane Gina. 

I used "The Journey" stamp set from GinaK. The map is October Afternoon's Road Map - Pure Luxury Cranberry Tart - and Turquoise Sea. I colored the images using Copics. Thanks for the visit and the stroll through memory lane!

Summer Memories

Gina K on StampTV put out a challenge to create a card based on a summer memory. So this is a card that I came up with. This was a quick card because I was out of town and just found out last night! Talk about some fast creating! I have another card in my brain - I hope I get to it! 

The summer memory that this represents is from when I was a girl of about 8. We had just immigrated to the USA from The Netherlands and  had no money. We lived in a little row house in Pennsylvania right by the train station. There really was no yard and my brother (2 years younger) and I truly had very little. We could not speak English yet so making friends was difficult. Anyway (putting away the violin) there was a cherry tree not far from our alley back yard and there was a tire swing on it. I think that my brother and I spent hours on that swing and loved every minute of it. We did not feel poor - we felt like we were the luckiest ever! In Holland we had no yard at all - we were on the 3rd floor and would have had to walk to the park.

I used Therese's Sending Sunshine stamp set for this card and a few Copics to color. I had a neat Nestie border that I had not used before to set it off a little. The CS is Vibrant Violet and White - all GinaK Pure Luxury. Thanks for stopping by. 

Treasured Moments

Welcome to the Sunday morning upload for Stampin Sisters in Christ. I read one verse further then stated on the website and it says "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." Oh what a wonderful point of knowledge "The Lord will give ME understanding in everything!" Isn't that amazing? The challenge this week was to make a Father's Day card or a masculine card. Well, the card that I made is masculine and is for my dear dad. Dad takes care of my mom every minute of every day! He is amazing. I know it hurts him to see my mother failing and I also know that God is with him because he loves to tell me when she had a good day. It is in my nature to ask why - God  - why, yet I have never heard my dad say those words about mom. He truly treasures every moment that they  have together. So this card is for him - my dad. 

I used a stamp set called Timeless Treasures by Theresa Momber and sold by GinaK. The designer paper is from Basic Grey called Porcelain and the solid paper was Fresh Asparagus also from GinaK. I used some Chrystal Effects on the face of the pocket watch and a couple of brads. 

Have a great week and remember to treasure the moments - I try to!  

Thank You

Sometimes we just have to challenge ourselves and last night I finally watched Gina's video on how to make a card using the Reverse Nestabilities technique. It was such fun and I know I will do this one again. That is one of the great things about summer vacation, I actually have the time to try new things. There was a challenge on StampTV to use the shaving cream technique so I also used that. I had made a page of the purple and pink shaving cream a while back and has some of it left so I found a use for the scraps by stamping the butterfly and the the flower tops and then cutting them out and popping them up. I used the GinaK Pure Luxury Vibrant Violet, Bublegum Pink and White. I added some bling and used Theresa's stamp set called Hope Grows. I made this card to thank our friends for a wonderful evening and dinner last week. Yes, I am actually sending this away - Yeah me! I am leaving town tonight to head up to Wisc. for a week to spend some time with be dear friend. I will have an automatic post for SSCC while I am gone though - so come back on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Surprise!

Birthdays are so much fun, especially if we can surprise someone. This is a "Surprise Birthday" virtual party for Kathy. Happy birthday Kathy! I am bringing the Pepsi - enough for everyone. Doesn't that look nice and refreshing? If you came from the Stampin Sisters in Christ website and got a little lost you may want to go back to the main page here. If not then you came from Linda's with that wonderful candy - yum! The next stop is at Peggysue's. The birthday card was made with a new stamp set I just got called "Candles on your Cake". It was designed by Melanie and is sold at GinaKDesigns. I used some of my precious DP from October Afternoon called "Fly a Kite". I used an impressibility for the background and lightly sponged it with greet. I also made this card for the color challenge over at StampTV and the sketch challenge at Sketch Girl. I hope your birthday is wonderful Kathy! God Bless!

Enjoy your Day

I

I made this card today for Theresa's May Stamp set release on StampTV. Today was a hot day in here in Florida so I spent the afternoon in my craft room - lucky me! I wanted to make a card that expressed how I feel. My last day of work for the next couple of months was on Friday so I am officially on Summer Vacation! I do think that is why many of us become teachers - we like summer vacation! LOL! On Friday I also got my nice big box full of goodies from GinaK and in that box was this designer paper pack by DCWV called Citrus. It has such cheery colors I just had to use it. I also got my Scor-Pal recently (oh happy day!) and decided to make a gate fold card for this card. I used the Pure Luxury CS white, sweet mango, and turquoise sea. What a great combo! I popped up the flowers and the butterfly. It really is a cheery card and I think I will leave it up on my craft room to remind me to "Enjoy the Day" and to thank God for it!

Smile

Doesn't this image make you smile? I often think that God smiles at us and our antics. What do you think the duck is saying to the snail? Or perhaps the duck is listing to the snail! We don't really know; but I am someone who would like to know.

The scripture  for the Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge this week is from the book of Genesis (1:26). God created all the animals and I do sometimes wonder why we have yucky bugs or scary alligators. I am a questioner - why does God allow bad things to happen - why are there so many sad things? Why is my one daughter mentally challenged - why is my mother suffering with the aftereffects of the strokes - why is my friend going through the horrors of cancer treatment? So may questions. I have learned, however, that some of the answers come with time and some we may not know until we join Him in Heaven - in the meantime SMILE, we are loved and He is in charge. 

This card was made with a stamp set from GinaKDesigns called Spring Has Sprung. The DP is from the BasicGrey paper pad called Lime Rickey. I also used Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion and Turquoise Sea from GinaK. I colored the image with Copics. Have a great week and don't forget to SMILE! 

Thoughts

Here is my upload for tonight. Another one with Theresa's set Hope Grows. That is kind of my motto lately, hope always grows in my heart. For this card I popped the dove up on a few branches. I used a paperpack from Basic Grey called Cappella. I really like that paper. I cuttlebugged the Ocean Mist CS and used a couple of Nesties for the focal image. The ribbon was gathered. I really like how this card came out and hope you do too. This stamp set can be purchased at GinaK Designs. If you want to see more cards made with this really fantastic stamp set look at the gallery. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to upload again this weekend.

Summer Colors

Another card with Hope Grows. I truly am surprising myself with the many cards I have been able to create with the same stamp set. I truly have been challenged with this. This card was also created for a couple of different challenges. The first was for StampTV and it was to be a card that reminds us of summer. The nice bright colors does that for me. Along with the butterfly. The other is a sketch challenge from Card Patterns.

The designer paper is from the Basic Grey June Bug paper pack. I used the GinaK Pure Luxury In the Navy and Lemon Ice. I colored the images with Copics and popped up a flower that I have no idea anymore where I got it from! Used a border punch from Martha Stewart. Thanks for coming by - I will have another card tomorrow. I think I am on a roll!

Enjoy

Here is another card I made using Hope Grows by Theresa! This stamp set is available for purchase at GinaK Designs. For this one I used the Basic Grey paper pack called Basics White. I used a Cuttlebug border folder for the bottom. The little flowers are from a Nestibility set called Flourishes. I used a punch from SU That created the look of the paper punch. The dove was lightly highlighted with a Sakura glitter pen in pink and one in clear. The branches were stamped off before stamping it on the paper. The CS was GinaK Pure Luxury Gray and Cranberry. I used some ribbon from my stash of SU that I still had. This was a fun card to make and quite simple. I liked these colors and did like the way it turned out. I will have another card tomorrow so come back for a quick look!