Rest

Happy Sunday! It is once again time for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge. This week the scripture verse is from the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 28. It states, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."  If you read my description of why I chose this verse on the main website, here, you know that I had to make a card that had water in it. Water gives me rest. When I am troubled by a problem or a situation I like to sit at the end of our dock and just look at the lake, I see some turtles popping up their heads, or the way the water swirls around a fish jumping out of the water. The creatures in the water - they totally trust God. I could learn from them. I feel close to God when I am at a beach or the lake, I talk to Him and he hears me and I listen. Jerry and I teach baptism classes at our church and we talk quite a bit about the symbolism of water. We cannot live without it - and for me it is a reminder of God's presence in my life. When I look at the water my burdens are lifted and my heart can rest because I allow Him to take over. Amazing how that happens isn't it?


About this card. This is the first time that I created a scene and it took several tries before I got this finished product. I will have to lead you to Theresa Momber's website where I watched several tutorials. This is very similar to one of hers so I give the credit to her. Here is the tutorial I used and just changed the colors. It barely compares to her incredible card but.... 


Recipe:
Stamps: Aloha - by Theresa sold by GinaK
Paper: Pure Luxury Kraft and Chocolate Kiss
Inks: Various blues
Other: Sponge Daubers, Copics, and a flower that should look like a sun

Personal Note

I do not often upload personal photos, instead I focus this blog on my card making craft. However, I shared a couple of days ago that I was having a "girl cousin sleepover" with 5 of my 6 granddaughters. These are the ones that were able to come. Their ages are 8 to 4. We had so much fun and they were so good. For those of you who have been following my blog for a while you may remember that 4 of these wonderful young ladies just had their adoptions finalized in the beginning of this year! Am I blessed or what?!?!

We:
played in the lake
dipped fruit in melted chocolate
made s-mores
made cards and painted wooden crafts
polished our nails
watched a movie
played a board game
talked and squealed (them - not me)

Thanks for indulging me in a proud and happy grandma sharing!

Thinking of you

I love working with just black and white, it is such a wonderful contrast and can make for some striking cards. I made this for a friend of mine who could use some prayers. It was not a difficult card to make and thanks to CPS174 I got my sketch! And thanks to StampTV I got my colors.I stamped the words on the Basic Grey paper, the foliage image was embossed on vellum. Then it just came together.


Recipe:
Stamps: Botanicals - GinaK
Paper: Pure Luxury Black and White
Special Paper: Basic Grey white on white and vellum
Other: Bow Easy and some glitter

Thanks for looking! 

"2"cool

I hope that all of you had a nice 4th of July weekend. I sure did! I finally got the house all back in order, the yard is mowed and in just a few hours I am going to have 5 of my 6 granddaughters  (ages 8, 8, 7, 6, 4) for an overnight! I have crafts lined up and special snacks and I am counting my blessings! I was able to make a couple of cards last night and here is one of them. I made this for a couple of challenges but also in thinking about my granddaughters and the cards that I thought they would like. Kids grow up faster these days - I have to stay up with the times!

The first challenge was for StampTV's Blast from the Past challenge - using colored embossing. And the other challenge was for CPS174 which is the sketch layout. I embossed the outline of the tee, the butterfly and the words. I also used the paisley Cuttlebug folder for the blue card base. I tried to make the tee look a little funky using my new Ranger distressed ink. Thanks for stopping by - I may have another one to upload later (after lights out for the girls!). 

Recipe:
Stamps: Little Tee's sold by GinaK and designed by Melanie
Paper: Pure Luxury Little Boy Blue
Specialty Paper: That was a single sheet that was just in my "stash"
Other: Flower, brad, embossing powders

Life is Good

Another Sunday and this weekend we also celebrate our wonderful country. You may know that I am not a USA native - I was born in the Netherlands, we immigrated to the USA when I was 8 years old. So I am an American (who loves tulips).Happy 4th of July to all Americans - native or not.

This week the scripture verse is from the book of 2 Chronicles 7:14. In this chapter and verse God talks to Solomon and promises that people's prayers will be heard and sins will be forgiven. God tells us again and again to pray - to talk to Him.

This card has geraniums on it and I chose it specifically for this week. If you look at the banner on the top of my blog you will see that we have a lot of geraniums hanging in our yard. They are very special to us. We purchased those shortly after we moved into this house 4 1/2 years ago. We have a geranium for each of our 8 children, all 4 of our parents (all in their 80s) and 1 for the extended family. Every day Jerry, my DH, waters and tends to these plants and says prayers for that person. So the geranium had to be made into a card. Life is good - thank you God!!!!

Recipe:
Stamps: Enjoy the Sunshine - GinaK
Paper: SU Real Red, Blue Bayou
Other: Nestibilities, Metal embelishments  

Love the USA

H

Happy 4th of July! We always have a big lake party for the 4th and some family members are staying for the weekend. The children swim all day, families take turns with the cooking and everyone brings covered dishes to share. We always have fireworks too. Everyone has a good time. I made this card for the sketch challenge on StampTV and it won the random drawing and I won a free stamp set from GinaK! Yippie!

Recipe:
Stamps: Candles on your Cake - GinaK Designs
Paper: Pure Luxury Rocket Red - SU Brilliant Blue
Other: Star Cuttlebug folder, ribbon, markers

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

*

**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!