12 Days of Christmas Challenge

I've had the delightful opportunity to *sponsor* one day in the 12 Days of Christmas design challenge...for those of us who are just not quite ready to stop making Christmas cards :) You can read more about the challenge here: http://dailydare4u.blogspot.com/2010/12/saturday_25.html and my lovely amazingly talented cyber sister in Christ - Dina Kowal - has graciously agreed to *host* my day...since I'm, well, if you've followed along for any period of time....'htmly challenged'. You can see Dina's original post on her blog: http://mamadinis.blogspot.com and there is a great Heart & Soul prize for the winner. Be sure to post your cards in the Splitcoast Gallery using the code DD12days02. Have fun! and may God bless you in the new year abundantly ><>

O Christmas Tree...O Christmas Tree....

When we moved a few years ago, we had the added blessing of living in the middle of a Christmas tree farm :) They are just beautiful noble firs, and we only need to walk out in the field to get one. What a gift! And they look awesome when it snows. I've *packratted* so many ornaments in our married life that I actually 'rotate' them- one year it's all about the snowflake- and the next it's all the rest. So here's the *flakey* result :) May you all enjoy your Christmas preparations- don't forget to prepare your heart as well ><>

A Little Snow on the Pumpkins....

We had a lovely early snowfall this week- kind of unusual for that to happen before December....I made these turkey pumpkins years ago when my kids were little- they helped paint all the parts & pieces. There's nails in the bottom to poke them into my leftover pumpkins. They make me smile :) Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving no matter how you spend it or whom you spend it with! I am so very thankful for so many things...God Bless ><>

Thankful for friends.....

I made a mess of these for my friends :) The cornocopia is so *vintage* that I can't tell where it's from...probably early D.O.T.S. or SU ? Printed the word on the computer. Love that copper metallic paper- good to use it in small snippets :) on the inside I stamped a tiny *for you*. Clean and simple as usual ><>

It's A Blustery Day....

...here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Sorry I've been *awol*....no excuse....time is zooming by me. I worked on some jewelry and things for a *green gift* fair- haven't actually touched a stamp for weeks...except to sell them, of course.....and I feel semi-guilty posting *non-stamping* news....since, well...this is *supposed* to be a stamping company blog...technically....bless your hearts for checking up on me :) I'm looking forward to my *baby girl* coming home from school next week...dinner with half of my family...I'm already listening to wonderful Christmas music! My heart is full to overflowing with thankfulness. Wishing you all a wonderful time with family and friends in the weeks ahead ><>

The view :)

Looking out the back window this morning! The neighbor's maple tree was just glowing in the sunrise :) I'm so thankful for fall- that God paints the earth with so much beauty...and that I have the eyes to see it, and the *sense* to know Who created it all ><>

Autumn Blessings

I have really been enjoying my latest *organization project* - finally sorted my scraps of cardstock and background papers by color. SO much easier to find and use them up when they're in their own little space instead of thrown into one huge box! I'm inspired :) so I made some cards for friends, out of mostly scraps....The pumpkin is a clear Inkadinkado image from a few years back- the words are from Northwoods. The corrogated paper is a recycled Starbucks cup wrap! I KNEW I've been hoarding those things for a reason! God Bless you on this wonderful Autumn day- and we rejoice with the Chiliean miners who are being reunited with their families today. What a miracle!!!! ><>

My Little Helper....

.....and people wonder why there is cat hair in their stamp orders and cards :) ><>

I Always Wanted One of These :)

...so I made one :) It was alot of work and I can see why they are so expensive to buy. Worth every penny! I didn't use wool felt, just the cheap kind. And I think maybe 3 layers was a little much- it's so *lumpy* that I'm not sure it will be a very good doily...but it was fun! And something to do while watching Glee :) ><>

Recycling Christmas :)

Woohoo! October 1st! I'm breaking out the Christmas music :) (Actually, this is true! I just got a new CD called *Oh Come All Ye Faithful* with songs by some of my favorites- putting it in the car today :) But I digress....This card was made from scraps & such- really cleaned out the purple cardstock drawer! Background paper is recycled from the worship folders at my church, run through a CB folder and sanded a little bit to make the flakes stand out. Big snowflake is a diecut, shiny center comes from a Christmas tree garland ( very cheap embellishments!) and the center is from SU. I have a *thing* for snowflakes - and when they're purple it's even more wonderful :) Have an awesome Autumn day ><>

Hope Restored Tour

So last night I had the awesome privilege of being in a huge room filled with people singing their hearts out to Jesus :) Big Daddy Weave, Aaron Shust and Andy Kirk were just awesome worship leaders. What a huge blessing to my music loving rocking for the Lord heart ><>

Comin' Up on Fall.....

My favorite time of year! Looks like I've been *awol* for awhile...don't know where September went! Made this to sit on the coffee table...leaf & verse are Heart & Soul...just found the square bling at Michael's this week- comes in a big pack with black, orange & yellow. Here's a closer look at the cut out leaves...Happy Fall Y'all ><>

you're welcome pooh :)

To say that I have a *thing* for Winnie the Pooh would be...well....a 'smackeral' of an understatement! I think it started when my oldest was young and we'd watch the newer Disney cartoons together. He grew out of it...but apparently I never will :) The words are from the newest 'batch' of Heart & Soul, and the bear himself is a 'vintage' All Night Media stamp. Who knows how old it is- I've been stamping over 25 years and I think it's one of my first ones. Can't remember where the honeycomb background is from- got it UM at a convention years ago. A little ribbon, CB, and a bee button and 'ta dah' ><>

ps- and this just confirms it for you, if you had ANY doubt whatsoever, that watercoloring is NOT my forte' :)

a little splurge :)

Stopped by the farmer's market today to pick up some fresh corn on the cob (*Bodacious*- yum!) and couldn't resist this mum! I'm fascinated by the perfect design of the petals- love the color- and it just reminds me everytime I see it that God does beautiful work :) ><>

ps: and it boggles my mind how anyone could think it happened by *accident* or *just randomly* or whatever else they want to call it...

ok I'm done for awhile now :)

...and YOU thought this was a STAMPING blog! Just finished the last of the chunky marble yarn stash- I used a smaller loom this time, so it's a little longer than the last one, and narrower. So now I'm a gonna start stampin' again....for sure! ><>

More Chunky Marble Goodness :)

I have to ask myself *WHY* am I knitting a scarf in 95* weather ???? But here's the proof that I do quirky things sometimes :) I just can't sit and watch tv without doing something else....so while I'm hibernating in the house where it's cool while we have a mini-heat wave*, I whipped out another beauty on the *knifty knitter* loom :) I just loooove this chunky marble yarn- only takes 1 skein to make a nice length scarf, and the color combinations are like no other I've seen in varigation. Got 1 more in the wings to start soon. ><>

*mini-heat wave: here in the great Pacific Northwest, they don't usually last longer than a week, don't get much over 100*, and usually cool off nicely in the evenings! We are blessed :)

Ahoy Mateys :)

The altar at my church has been transformed this week for VBS- it's a High Sea Adventure! The *design team* has really outdone themselves yet again. There's things 'hoisting', swabbing, and yaring all over the place :) What a blessing to know that young lives are being transformed by the love of Christ too! ><>

more block fun

I seem to have a strange fascination with round and square things :) I have a bunch of glass *balls* in my flower garden...(some are old light covers from Goodwill) you know- low budget gazing globes :) and I've been making wood blocks alot. My dear neighbor cut these for me from a long piece of wood, then I added scraps of design paper from my hoarded stash...sanded around the edges to distress a little, added some sponged chip board letters, and that little bit of bling :) gotta have some bling somewhere...at about $1 each I thought that was a good deal. Woulda been much cheaper if I'd had some wood scraps already. ><>

recycling again....

So after I had a lovely iced latte from Peet's Coffee, I decided to make a fun flower out of the cup...it was just asking for it, really! It's hard to see, but there's a flower shaped brad holding it all together :) Cheers ><>

Another New Stamp :)

This one's called *home rules* - I made it into an easel card to sit on the kitchen counter...just to remind myself when I need reminding :) Background paper courtesy of a Burger King bag....I knew when I bought that crossanwich that I was reusin' the bag ><>

Heffalumps & Woozles....

My daughter *whipped this out* last week for her cousin's 21st birthday :) - she's a big fan of anything lime green...the yarn is soooo very soft. She loved it :) ><>

Woohoo! New Stamps :)

There's a whole bunch of new stuff over at Heart & Soul- and here's a card with one of my faves. Hope you'll mosey on over and check things out :) and have a super dee duper day full of the richness of God's grace, mercy & blessings ><>

ps- hmmn. having trouble inserting the link to the website- you can click through on the side bar and get there too. sorry:)

Catching Up with my Wish List

I had fun making a bunch of things on my *wish list* this weekend :) I got this wood block on clearance awhile back, made the 'welcome' on the computer (artistamp font, I think) and stamped some Inkadinkado flourishes. Background paper is Basic Grey's Scarlett's Letter- then I 'aged' it a bit with some distress ink. Lotsa bling, and tada. I like it :) Here's a better look at the bling-
Next, I made some smaller plaques- basically the same way. Too much fun!
That's it for now! ><>

A Beautiful Bag & Thank You.....

I have a friend who makes the coolest bags and sells them on etsy- you can see for yourself at www.etsy.com/shop/Totes4All and another friend *commissioned* one for a knitting bag for my daughter- she just loves it! It's fully reversible and has pockets on the inside and outside. I'm thinking I need one for myself - for non-knitting purposes :)


This is the thank you card that my daughter made for one of the ladies :) She knit the little piece, and mounted it on cardstock and added the heart brad. Image is SU :)
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stuff christians like...

ok- I just started reading the funniest book ever- *the stuff christians like* and the blog is hilarious too :) check it out! http://www.stuffchristianslike.net ><>

Happy 4th!

Whew! It's been a busy week- working on a little house painting project for my son- still playing with colors- just not on paper :) Here's a little card I whipped up today for my friends- dug into the scrap drawers for most of the goods. Image is the small *lady liberty* from Heart & Soul. I stamped an *old school* D*O*T*S* firework burst over the image, and added a little *stickles* glitter. Plus a brad. and some ribbon. That's it for now ><>

happy dad's day :)

Well...I'm getting CLOSER to posting a card with Heart & Soul stamps.....the words are from H & S and the cool truck is SU :) Just a simple layering/sponging endeavor. I have the best dad & FIL- and I thank God for them often <3

Woohoo!

This is the *grand total* of my knitting *expertise* - the knifty knitter :) Just my speed. Altho' I can still mess it up when it comes to casting off the loom :( thankfully my amazingly talented daughter is home from college for the summer to bail me out :) That girl can knit circles around her mama. Anyway....(rabbit trail) I just fell in love with this yarn @ Craft Warehouse- and it was ON SALE (heheheheh) so I grabbed it up! So soft and I love the color combo- great scarf for $10. Hmmnn...this worked up so quickly that I may have to go back for that purple/green skein ><>

As promised....

Here's this year's Pentecost mobile :) I don't know why it looks so faded out. Must be my cheesy *travel* camera. The colors are actually very vibrant IRL....Oh well, the idea comes across. ><>

A sigh of Relief :)

Finally! Waking up to sunshine instead of grayness & rain! We've been in a real run of rain, and you know it's not good when even the *natives* are complaining! Normally I love the rain, but even I am sick of it ready to wave the white flag! I love these little daisy-like flowers in my garden. They are no doubt glad for a little *UV loving* too :) Have a glorious day ><>

Pentecost Mobile

This is a *wind spinner* (for lack of another name) that I put together a few years ago for the Pentecost season. It hung in our sanctuary and rotated gently with the air currents in the building. I tried to convey the whole idea of 'tongues of fire' over our heads. Go big or go home :) If I can remember my camera next time I go to church I'll take a pic of this year's version :) ><>

One More for the Wall....

I made this banner for another Trinity Sunday years ago. It was one of the first ones I tried in another *shape* besides a rectangle. After painting it, I glued a ton of rhinestones and gems onto it so it would *sparkle*. I'm sure it frustrated the custodian when they started to fall off....oopsie. ><>

Trinity Sunday....on Tuesday.

This was definitely one of my most ambitious banner projects! My *vision* was to write down the names of God, and put them in the shape of a cross....well....some names tend to blend together with the rest of the Trinity, and before I knew it- I had so many awesome names gathered I couldn't just edit any of them out! So in my usual *flying by the seat of my pants* design method, I took off running with it- using the overhead projector and my computer to generate the names. Only too bad for me, I realized about 2/3 of the way into it that the 8 yards of fabric I had wasn't going to be quite enough! So I started 'scrunching' the names up. Which made the cross shape a little less obvious than I had hoped for. Which is why one of my *life mottos* is "it seemed like a good idea when I thought of it" :) Nonetheless, I still like how it turned out, and the fun part was I made it like a *puzzle* kind of- if you look at it closely enough, you can see that some of the letters within some of the words are obviously a darker color- and if you start at the top of the banner and work your way down, they spell out Jesus Christ :) Just a little something fun to do during church...when you should be paying attention to the sermon. Heheheh. We've long since replaced the *banner hanging areas* with big screens, so this huge thing now hangs in the back entryway to our sanctuary. I still smile when I see it :) ><>

God Bless....

I made this banner for Memorial Day years ago. Another one of those I used the overhead projector for. If memory serves me (highly unlikely, but hey, it's worth a shot!) I may have used the flag from the SU special set that was issued, I think, after September 11th. You SU'ers can correct me if I'm loopy :) I generated the text on my computer. Drew it all onto some white oilcloth-like fabric, and painted it with acrylic paint. Also wanted to point out one of my favorite *thought provoking* rubber stamps from Heart & Soul: God has already blessed America....How about if America blesses God? and on that note I'll say....have a thoughtful Memorial Day! ><>

Pentecost....a little late....

I don't know why I didn't post this last week when it actually WAS Pentecost! But at my church, we celebrate the *birthday* of the church for months...so it's all gooood. Right? This is a banner I made years ago. The background is a really shimmery flamey looking fabric- the gold & pink 'flames' are actually little pockets that I stuffed more shimmery-flamey-scarflike scraps in. I liked the whole *3-D* effect. If you're unfamiliar with Pentecost, there is a wonderful telling of it in the Bible, in Acts Chapter 2. Phenominal stuff- better than anything Hollywood has ever come up with! ><>

Thankful....

Taking some extra time this Memorial Day weekend to really tell God how much I appreciate the service men & women who have, do, and will freely give their lives for the rest of us.....hmmn....thank you Jesus for the very same thing! ><>

ps- this image comes from the c28 website- check it out for awesome Christ centered clothing, jewelry and so much more!

Happy Birthday Jamie :)

I made this for a really sweet gal :) Used a CB folder, sanded it down a little, added some brads to the flowers, a little ribbon (I think this is one of those cards I designed around the ribbon :) and I THINK it's another SU image, but it could be one of those awesome cheap ones from Craft Warehouse. Super fun! ><>

Blocks of Fun :)

This is a fun project I made for my lovely *probable daughter-in-law* :) I mean almost 100% certain....but there's no pressure :) anyway....she had commented awhile back that she really liked the blocks I had made- so of course I ran with the idea and made her a whole bunch!!! I cut the blocks from a long square piece of wood, and went to the scrap drawer for background papers in *their* colors. The letters were all on a 12 x 12 sheet I have hoarded/saved forever- just perfect! I sanded the edges down with a nail file ( my favorite distressing tool!) and tada. I made enough to spell out Merry Christmas, their names, i love you, peace, welcome home,joy and the rest are random letters so they can spell out whatever they want.Here's a real block's eye view:
She loved them :) ><>

*Upcycled* fun...

....or the latest Goodwill treasures :) Can't remember where I got this idea, wasn't mine originally, but I loved it! Got the plate holder at my favorite store (GW) and found plates in the colors I wanted there too. Definitely helps with counter space in the bathroom :) Top rack is *foofy stuff*, middle is *fun stuff*, bottom is *blingy stuff*...cheap at half the price ><>

Happy Birthday Cyndy :)

Tonite we celebrated my *webmasterette's* birthday at Chevy's- totally a spur of the moment/last minute plan- those seem to work best for the DH & I :) Great conversation/awesome food...and we resisted the urge to let the cat out of the bag and make her wear the floppy sombrero :) (you're welcome, girlfriend :) Made her some CAS note cards in a bunch of colors...SU tree, my own stash for the rest. I did that little line-around-the-edges-with-a-hash-mark-and-dots thingy that I love to do. Just adds a little sumpin' sumpin'. Half the fun of making stamps is...well..making stamps of anything you want- including my friend's names. Makes a fun gift for them, and I use them over & over again personalizing stuff for them :)



Here's the whole rainbow! ><>

P.S.- I would truly be lost without Cyndy's website maintenance! I am ever thankful for her :)

Life is a Highway....

Well, THAT title doesn't make much sense. WHO rides a bike on the highway ??? Oh well. More SU used here- I added a little glitter pen to the spokes of the bicycle for some glitz. You probably think it's strange that I post so many cards made with SU, as opposed to MY OWN stamps....I probably need to work on that! heheheh. Have an awesome day- because the Lord made it! ><>

For the Birthday Stash

Another card club creation- all SU stuff here- used that new texture folder- I like that it looks cool on either side ( maybe they all do.....I don't know :) Like the orange colors- going into the card stash :)

Celebrate Spring!

Here's another card from yesterday's class. Punched the hole in the raspberry CS before gluing to card, then stamped the image through the hole. Almost successfully....heheheh. ><>

More Mommy Love :)

Made this at a SU *Card Club* thingy I try to go to once a month. Gets me out of the house AND stampin'! A two-fer-one in my book :) I believe this is the new coral colored card stock. Interesting color combo- I do like it tho' and am giving it to my dear MIL Sunday- (it's ok...she won't find out because she thinks computers are the devil's tools :) ><>

Love My Moms :)

Happy almost mom's day :) This was a fun one- used a CB folder for the background, then a SU rose one for the flowers- brayered the wrong side so the white lines show- then cut around it. *Mom* is a Heart & Soul stamp. Hope all of you mommas have a blessed weekend with loved ones....personally I think Mother's Day should be EVERY day :) ><>