Back to Work

Good morning!  I hope that you are successfully recovering from your holiday weekend - if you had one!  Myself, I spent the majority of the day being a nurse, but was blessed enough to spend time with family at a BBQ as well!  I think of Memorial Day and why we celebrate, all the men and women who have fought for our freedom - and for me personally, our Holy Father who has given us the ultimate freedom, by sending His Son to take our place!

Today I decided to jump back in the swing of things and play along with Sweet Sunday Sketch SSSC185 ontwo of my creations creations, as well as The Play Date Cafe (183) color challenge on the top card!  The last card is playing along with the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday #207).

All of my supplies came from either Taylored Expression's or PaperTrey Ink with some CTMH ink, miscellaneous copics, ribbon, and bling tossed in!

Thank you for stopping by and letting me be part of your day!  Your kind words and comments bless me immensely!

Mary   

Welcome to October

Good morning!  Welcome to my first post of October and my first post with my fixed computer!  I am so excited to share my absolute favorite new ippity set with you!  This Christmas themed set is just my style and you can find it right at the I heart {ippity} site!  Along with that, the Fab n Funky challenge this week is to use dies or punches...  I forget about my scalloped square all the time, but sure do love the results when I remember it, along with the much loved scalloped circle, and small label!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

God Bless You,

Mary

Not Playing Nicely....

That would be my computer!  It has decided that it is no longer going to be a team player lol, so packaged up in a box and off to the factory it goes to get an "attitude adjustment"!
Today is a great day to play along with a couple of challenges and join in on a super fun blog hop though!  Fab 'n Funky has a challenge sure to pull you out of your normal stamping funk of making the same old thing over and over, here is a Sympathy card I made for there today!  Sooo not my style of card, but I did it!

(Paper: PaperTreyInk, misc pp, Stamp: PI: Botanical Silhouettes)

Now, if you are here looking for the Taylored Expressions Blog Hop, you have the right place as well!  Here is my card for the hop:

(Paper: PTI, misc dp, Stamps: TE Sew Happy)

Thanks for stopping in today and God Bless You,
Mary

Oh Monday....

Why do you have to tag along on a perfectly good weekend?  Here is a little note of inspiration for anyone out there with a case of the Monday's!

God Bless You,

Glorious Glimpse

Good Sunday Morning!  Welcome to my Glorious Glimpse for the Christian Paper Craft's Design Delights Gallery!  Don't forget that the gallery opens tomorrow and is stuffed full of back to school ideas!

If you are a cupcake fan like my, you have probably stumbled across cupcake decorations in the stores and noticed the high prices for what seems like not so high quality.  Especially when they are facing the thoughts of...the garbage can after being used!  Why not do like I did, and simply make your own?

Pin It

Using the PaperTreyInk set Tag It's #6 along with my handy dandy Marvy scalloped punch and some toothpicks and tape, voila - there little pretties to adorn the tops of the cupcakes for the most precious Sunday School kiddos in  the world!

Don't forget, the whole gallery will be revealed tomorrow at Christian Paper Crafts!  Are you a memeber?

God Bless You,

Finally Friday

I just got to thinking about this verse for a Friday and got so tickled that I had to use it on a card.  I mean - the card can be taken very serious, but after a long week, I just kept thinking, "Even Friday's are possible with God"!

Although my blog is usually "off" on  the weekends, this Sunday is my "Glorious Glimpse" post for CPC!  You won't wabnt to miss this monthes Design Delights Gallery, especially if you have kiddos and are working on projects for school!

God Bless You,

Almost Friday...

Has this week been long in your world?  It sure seems like it has in mine!  Perhaps it is because I am pretty excited for the weekend.  Abby, Mom, and I have a little of a girls day planned for Saturday and I simply can't wait!  It doesn't matter if we were just all together this past Saturday doing the same thing at the house - it's always a blessing!  The following cards are some little pretties I whipped up for our Church's Prayer Shawl Ministry using the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge sketch!  Love me some TE!  All the pretty papers you see used are from the kits, with the exception of the kraft and white cardstock, which is from PaperTreyInk

Have a great Thursday!!

God Bless You,

What Matters Most...

Good morning!  I'm wondering if your summertime is as hot as mine is here in Eastern Kentucky?

Today my card for i heart{ippity} focuses on the stamp set What Matters Most.  What a great little stamp set it is, and how thought provoking that little title is as well.  As we go through our days, it is so important to remember what truly does matter most!  For me, it is simple - God, family, friends, and my patients matter a great deal to me as well, so I must add work in there...

Be sure to check out the i heart {ippity} blog to see what the other girlies have made for your enjoyment today!

God Bless You,

Simply Saturday

Hello!  I found a "new-to-me" sketch blog called Clean and Simple Fall-to Sketches!  I thought it would be a great share for Simply Saturday...  In fact, I decided to use it for today's card, along with the Color Blocking challenge from CAS-ual Fridays.

(Paper: PaperTreyInk; Ink: Momento; Image & Sentiment: Ippity (by Unity) stamps)

Have a blessed weekend!

God Bless You,

Frugal Friday

Do you like to run?  Who would have thought that trying to get into shape could be so costly?  A gym membership, the entry fees for getting into 5K races - now don't get me wrong, if it is a charity 5K,then we're good :o)  But I've got a little hint for you!  There is a FREE app for the iphone/ipod/idevice called Virtual Road Race.  What is Virtual Road Race you might be wondering?  Well, every Saturday there is a "race" and you can run from anywhere, it records your time, distance, and the place you finish in the race, then you log onto the website afterward to see how you did!  Easy Peasy - that's Frugal Friday!
My little card today is full of bright colors for sweet summer time!  I had a blast playing along with challenges from The Southern Girls (#21 Anything Goes), Digi Doodle Shops Best (Stitching - even though mines addmitidly faux), and the awesome sketch is from MOJO Monday (#195).

 (Paper: PaperTreyInk; October Afternoon - Fly a Kite; Ink: PaperTreyInk; Image: PaperTreyInk - Fruitful; Sentiment: PaperTreyInk - Signature Greetings; Misc: trim, scallop punches, PTI inks, buttons, Jolee's bling)

Have a wonderful weekend!

God Bless You,

*Thankful Thursday*

If you recall this post from a couple of weeks ago on Thankful Thursday, I was so very thankful for my dehumidifier...  Fast forward to a couple of days after that and you want to know what I became most thankful for?  Listening to God to check that dehumidifier that had NEVER been a problem.  I walked back into the house to check it to find the cord melting!  We may no longer have our dehumidifier, but thanks to listening to God, we still have our home!!  So today, I am thankful for God's ever loving presence and gentle way of speaking to us!

On to today's craftiness!  Today's card is for the wonderful Sweet n Sassy Sweet Stop Sketch #112 and the Color Challenge at Color Throwdown:

 (Paper: PaperTreyInk, October Afternoon; Stamps: PaperTreyInk; Ink: Momento, Copics; Misc: Button, cuttlebug folder)

Another little project for today ties in two things I love, crafting and cooking!  Well, baking to be exact, but...  I have had so much trouble finding "cutesy" recipe cards that I decided to just make my own!  Now to find the perfect basket for them ;)  Good thing I know a Longaberger consultant ;)

(Stamps: Stampendous; Paper: PaperTreyInk, Georgia Pacific; Ink: PaperTreyInk, Copics)

* Would you like to make these for yourself, they were SUPER easy!  First I took a standard size 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock and cut it at 4.25 and 5.5 inches, leaving me with the 4 cards for bases.
* Next I took my white sheet of the same sized cardstock and did the same thing.  Since I wanted the white to be slightly smaller, I went back and took 1/4 an inch off of the length and width of each of them.
* Then I inked up my Stampendous What's Cooking stamps and decorated the front of a white card ever so slightly and used the large image on a scrap piece of cardstock which I then punched out with my scallop punch for the back.
*Note: After your ink dries, you can color in the images if you wish, I colored some of mine with Copics, but colored pencils would look great for a country touch!
*I took a piece of scrap ribbon and wrapped it around the card to ensure the ends would land under the scalloped image on the back and secure with tape or glue.
* Adhere the white cardstock you decorated to the front of the kraft.
*Place the scalloped circle on the back with pop up dots, covering the endings of the ribbns
* There you have it, easy peasy recipe cards!


God Bless You,

CPC Sneak Peak

Good morning!  Today is my turn to share with you my little sneak peak for this month's Design Team Delights Gallery that opens up tomorrow at Christian Paper Crafts!

I made this little scrapbook page of our favorite little "Vacation Church" using PaperTreyInk, October Afternoon, and Ippity Supplies!

I have some more exciting news to share, too!  I have been asked to join the I {heart} ippity creative team!  How cool is that!?  I can't wait to share more of my love of {ippity} with you!

God Bless You,

Relay Friday

Ahh, it is Relay Friday for our Relay for Life team!  I hope everyone is as excited as I am!  The Cake Pops are done, quilt finished, survivor gifts completed, etc...  I just hope I manage to remember to take everything with me!
On the crafty side of things today, I have a couple of cards to share!
First up is the sketch on the Stampendous Blog this week:

 (Paper: PaperTreyInk, October Afternoon - Fly a Kite; Ink: Momento, Copics; Stamp: Stampendous; Misc: Jolee's Bling)

Next is the CPS sketch for this week!  Christian Paper Crafts is the sponser over there, and I really encourage you to check out both places!

(Paper: PaperTreyInk, October Afternoon - Fly a Kite; Stamps: PaperTreyInk; Ink: PaperTreyInk; Misc: ribbon)

Have a great weekend!

God Bless You,

Simply saturday

Saturday is perhaps my favorite day of the week... One thing I aim to do is keep Saturday's as simple as possible. I try to have the grocery shopping out of the way, the house cleaning over, homework finished, etc so Saturday can be a family day, whether we decide to spend it at home or out and about. If at home, one of my favorite things to do is of course have some crafty time. Thanks to God for giving me a semi-creative mind every now and again, we incorporate crafty time and learning a lot... For example, we were working on getting some shapes down pat recently, so in order to work on triangles, here is what we made!

I'm loving it, but thats just my little ole country side showing! Abby helped trace and then cut out all the triangles for the project... I am so proud of her. Now, if we could only learn to call a square a square... (she calls them diamonds...what can I say, she is my daughter after all!)
In the world of paper, I wanted to share with you a scrapbook page of ouut most recent trip to the lake. Boy, swimming sure can take it right out of a girl!

{Cardstock & Papers: Papertrey Ink and October Afternoon; Ink: Momento - Tuxedo Black; Other: lace trim, button, twine,p prima flowers, button, stick pin, nestabilities labels dies}

I used the fabulous sketch from sketchabilities and adapted it to fit my one photo.
A couple of cards are on today's agenda as well...

{Cardstock & Papers: PapertreyInk Green Boutique, Kraft, and Basic Black; Stamps: Papertrey Ink Star Prints; Ink: Momento - Tuxedo Black; Other: lace trim, button, twine)

The Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog is having a DT call, and this little number is for them!  I also used Sketch Tuesday 111 from Christian Paper Crafts.

{Cardstock & Papers: PapertreyInk Distressed Dots, Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, and White; Stamps: Unity - Stamp from KOM ?2010; Ink: Momento - Rich Cocoa, Copics; Other: lace trim, twine, Making Memories Butterfly, Jolees Bling)

Although I really have nothing against pastels, I tend to stay away from them on my cards because it's just not my style.  That's one reason I love challenges like the Color Throwdown, they really get me to thinking outside the box.  Of course, a great sketch from Card Positioning Systems always helps guide things along as well!Hope your Saturday is simply the best!

God bless you,

Thankful Thursday!

What am I thankful for today?  Everything, but I guess that would be a blanket answer...  My family or maybe I could just say my Abby, but that would be too obvious...  Nope, the point of thankful Thursday is to get you to think outside the box for what you are thankful for!  Mine today - the dehumidifier in our bedroom!  Although this sounds like nothing, it has made a HUGE difference in my sinus/allergies and quantity/quality of sleep!

My little card today is full of things I love: the color pink, kraft, primas, ribbon, sewing, nestabilities, buttons, twine, pins, and copics, and of couse my little stampendous owl stamp set!  This little card is made for Color Monday at Christian Paper Crafts this week and also uses a ST98 from CPC.  Tuesday Throwdown's challenge this week is DIY embellishments, so I decided to sew my grey ribbon onto my white and make "scrunched" ribbon!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!!  Our weekend seems like it will be just as busy as the rest of the week has been...  What's that, no rest for the weary! lol

God Bless You,

Happy Birthday to Me! :o)

Happy Tuesda everyone!  I hope you are all having a fantastic day!  I decided to treat myself to a vacation day for my birthday - Great gift - being at home and still getting paid for the day of work!  What better to do than spend the day with my little girl, work on Relay stuff, and uhm, make myself a birthday card! :o)  What better way to get the card you want than to make it yourself?  I couldn't think of one either!
Of course, my card had to have some pink, some PaperTrey, Stampendous stamps, October Afternoon, flowers, glimmer mist, copics, & buttons...  all the things I simply adore in the world of paper!

Of course, I had to use a wonderful sketch from Gloria at Christian Paper Crafts!

Hope you all are having as happy of a day as I am!

God Bless You,

*CPC Design Team Delights Gallery Sneak Peak*

Hello!  Today I am excited to be sharing a sneak peak from Christian Paper Crafts April Design Team Delights Gallery that will premier tomorrow!!

Whether you are planning a little something to celebrate Mom or gathering the girlfriends for a day of fun, food is such an important part, don't forget to dress it up too! What did I do here that applies to paper you may ask? Oh but look and see, each of the sweets has a tag in front of it (taped to a napkin ring by the way) made out of cardstock with ribbons to let your guest know what bit of goodness lies ahead! The cupcake balls in the jar also have ribbons and little tags with love notes on them as well! Paper-Crafting supplies can be used everywhere!

Supplies: PaperTreyInk cardstock; ribbon; mega scalloped circle marvy punch

And....  if you are looking for a way to step up your participation somewhere, come on over to CPC and see what is going on!  Cindy just made an announcement looking for challenge hostesses!!

God Bless You,
Mary

Dreams of Spring

After waking up yesterday morning to cold weather and...more snow, I thought today's Color Monday would be the idea time for some "Dreams of Spring"!  Check out all the details at Christian Paper Crafts today!

Have a wonderful, "springy" day!

God Bless You,

*Love, Color Your Monday, & a Hop*

Welcome!  Thank you for stopping in!  Whether it is the Color Monday for Christian Paper Crafts, Virtual Valentine's Day Party (Blog Hop), or My Time Made Easy Sneak Peak that has brought you in, I am delighted to have you!
For this special blog hop a bunch of friends and designers got togetherand ended up with 40+ participants and 19 sponsors giving away a total of 21 prizes. Random commenters will be drawn from random blogs, so the more love they/you leave the more chances you have to win. 
If you are just popping in here, you need to start at Taylor's Blog for the full information, click here.  You should have arrived here from Rain Puddles Design blog and your next click will take you to Karber Sweet Escape.
So let's get going!
This morning's Color Monday at Christian Paper Crafts is all about LOVE!  I decided to combine that with the LOVE BLOG home and here you have it:

As an extra little bonus, I have a sneak preview project to share!  The Christian Paper Crafts special Design Team Delights Gallery for February is opening tomorrow with our lovely sponsor My Time Made Easy.  Here is one of my little goodies: 

 Don't you just love those little seed packets? They are one of the new templates and oh so easy to work with.  There is even a template for cutting the inside card, which I used on the photos of my little Abby!  I will have these on the table at her upcoming birthday party!  What a cute way to show off her year without having to worry about the scrapbooks being destroyed!  Also, these are all extras of pictures, so grandparents can take as they please!  My Time Made Easy also sells digital stamps which are totally awesome and would make a wonderful addition to any of your projects.

Happy Love Day!  The most precious gift of love is the love of Christ - I pray you each are blessed with this special love in your lives!

God Bless You,

P.S. Here's the list of AWESOME companies donating prizes!
- StampInsanity - with a set of choice for one winner
- Meljens designs - 4 digis to one winner
- Pixie Dust Studio - 2 digis to one winner
- Lizzie Anne Designs - $10 gift certificate (donated by Taylor U)
- Christian Paper Crafts - 1 year general membership
- Paper Pretties - 3 total winners: 1 person will receive Timeless Love stamp set; 2 people will receive 5 digis of their choice from the store
- Karber Digital Images - 2 digis to one winner
- Di's Digi Downloads - 5 digi images to one winner
- The Scrappychick Boutique - 2 6x6 Cosmo Cricket paper pads to one winner
- Stampendous - 4 cling rubber stamps from new release to 1 winner
- Pink Cat Studio - 5 digis of winner's choice to one winner
- Amber Ink - $10 gift certificate (and more if people use an Amber Ink product - see deets on their blog)
- Simply Betty Stamps - 3 digis of the winner's choice
- Mark's Finest Papers - set of their choosing to the winner
- Dreamweaver's Stencils - a couple stencils, pearlescent embossing paste and a palette knife
- Chi Chi Memories - Meaning of Love Digi Stamp Set to one winner
- Little Potato House - $20 gift certificate
- Kenny K digis: 4 digis to one winner
- Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps: winners choice of 2 images

Monday Morning Monkey Time!

Good Monday Morning...  We are supposed to get - get this - another Snow Storm this week!  Trust me - all this white stuff is totally ruining my mojo for getting anything done!
Later today over at Christian Paper Crafts, I will announce the winners from our very first PPN!  If you missed this one, you have another opportunity to play along coming up February 17th!
Today is Color Monday and I have some super fun colors picked out for you to play along with!  Here is my sample that I encorporated with the wonderful Sweet Sketch Wednesday sketch for this week:

(Paper: PaperTreyInk, Image: PaperTreyInk; Ink: PaperTreyInk, Copics, Momento; Accessories: Ribbon, Lace)

Have a great week!

God Bless You,