Family Visits...the fun and the sad!!!

Hi there scrapping peeps,

We were surprised this weekend by a visit from our daughter and her family. What a fun thing!!!
Instead of just doing normal everyday stuff, we get to spend it with kids and pets, and a couple of adults too. And then we get to do fun stuff, like stay up til the wee hours of the morning watching movies. That's the good part.

But we also had a not so fun thing happen during the night. Our granddaughter's bunny died. She had him and loved him since 2005 and didn't go anywhere without him..."love me, love my Nemo!"  Kirstin (our granddaughter is 15 and a natural caregiver. Nemo was her best friend, lived in her bedroom and they spent many hours together. Another life lesson...living with the good and the sad...

But that's life and we KNOW that there's many happy days to come. She has family that loves her, cares for her and helps her through the sad times. Love you, Kirstin. God bless you for many happy days and adventures to come.

Goodby Nemo!!!

I do have a card for today.
I made this for a couple of challenges.

 

Stamp TV's Monday challenge is an inspiration picture and I fell in love with the mirror frame on it. The colors to use are mustard, blue and deep red. So that's what I started with.

http://www.polkadotdoordesign.blogspot.com/ has an inspiration challenge with the same colors and I LOVE their challenge site. Not only can you win the weekly sponsor prize, but you might also be invited to be a guest designer.
http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ They wanted us to use an item we had purchased that we just had to have, but it's been hanging around in our stash. See the heart on this card? I bought a packet of these beautiful hearts a long time ago...but guess what? they just never seemed to fit into anything I was doing. So, I'm very happy to have found a place for one of them.
http://www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/ This challenge required us to use a Tim Holtz technique. My background is colored and then stamped over with a mesh background stamp. The dark red on the right side is a piece of long stranded fiber with a heart attached by ribbon and a butterfly nestled in the strands.

So, that's it for today.
Be blessed today and every day,
e

Tired, but happy....

Hello scrappers,

This is Tuesday and the start to my work week. I work part time and you would think I would have TONS of time to do all the crafting I desire....NOT SO...there's always a ton of other responsibilities and I am either too busy or too tired, or tooooooo...whatever!
BUT it feels good to be busy and look back on a day that feels satisfying and full. We all want more time...but I don't know, I am so tired by the end of the day I don't think I could take longer days.

I made this card for two challenges in particular:
http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/ required colors watermelon, sorbet and lime green and
http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com/2011/05/speedy-cats-friends-challenge-54winner.html required "not a normal card" (no squares or normal rectangles).

The cut front piece was cut with my Cricut. The word "Hope" was also cut with the Cricut.
The flowers on the front were made with a Penny Black stamp, colored with DerWent new water color pencils. and then topped off with a very soft, light pink tube of Stickles.
This was my first time using the DerWent pencils. I used a coupon at Hobby Lobby and that made the set much more affordable. They are WONDERFUL!!! Very bright, and just a tiny amount of water on the tip of the pencil just puts the color down gloriously!!! It was VERY FUN!!!

That's all for me for this time.
Enjoy the wonderful summer weather and
Be Blessed,
e

A wonderful summer....

Hello my crafty friends,
It's August aaaagggghhhh... where does the time go??? especially on these beautiful summer days. It seems we wait for summer for so long and then when it comes, everything we love about summer has to be crammed into these few golden weeks. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining... I LOVE summer, just wish it would last longer... for 10 months maybe???? Those of you who live in places like that, you lucky ducky... but those of us who wait and wait... summer is always too short.

With that being said, I always tell myself I will blog more often, and then I get busy and don't do it. It's a matter of priority and mind set. Something I have to get into the habit of doing. I don't know if any of you struggle with that... or maybe did at one time... leave me a note and let me know. I intend to work at it until I conquer.

So, even though I haven't put up much on my blog, I have been making art for my walls and working on three albums. I still have Luke's (he's the graduate) to finish... then I have my little great grand-baby, who is three... and last but not least, I have been slowly re-doing my wedding album.

My latest project is a tag I made for a friend's Birthday. I thought she would enjoy it because she can use it as a bookmark. I made it flat so that it won't be too bulky. That's kind of hard for me because I love to use flowers, etc. but I really tried and I think it's pretty good. I love the colors too, and after I thought about it, I think I have used these colors a lot the last few months. Guess I need to pay attention and get out of the box a bit. I have already decided that my next project is going to be PINK!!!

With that said, here's my tag:

I used a DCWV paper on the background and swiped white Versamagic color on it to mute it down. I really like the look it gave.

Then I used Tim Holtz' Stampers Anonymous stamp in Versamark and embossed in white.

The green on the edges is a Tim Holtz stamp also. They don't say what it's called but it's like tiny dots that fill in places and leave color and texture. I used green paint so that it would leave actual bumps. I smudged the right side a little bit (I wish I hadn't) because I couldn't get it off and it wasn't as "dotty". The left side turned out beautiful but got covered up so it isn't as visible. If you don't already have this stamp, check it out. He talks about it on his site.  He uses it all the time and it makes great snow for winter cards.

The flourishes and little leaves were cut with my Cricut. I could not work without that machine.

And the bird is a SU! punch. I love that bird. I punch it out twice so that I have a solid backing to give it dimension.

Here's the challenges I am entering:
http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/
http://fashionablestampingchallenges.cottagecrafts.ie/

Thank you for stopping by.
Blessings,
e

Finding my voice...

Hello friends,
I am in one of those soul searching moods and have been praying to find my own style, my own art, my place where I feel satisfied. And then this morning in my devotions, I was struck by the beauty of the morning, the colors in the sky, the beauty of the birds' song...God IS THE ULTIMATE BEAUTY CREATOR. We are ALL gifted in many different ways to make beauty around us. He made us like HIM and we long to create beautiful things to reflect HIS glorious creation. We long for fulfillment, to be satisfied, to find a way to release that creativity that God has gifted us with.

But the truth is, we live in a fallen world.
Not everything here on earth is beautiful, or just, or loving, or kind.
We are pilgrims in a place not our own. We long for HEAVEN!
Our hearts are set on eternity and being with the ONE who gave us LIFE and LOVE, and JOY!!!
And so here is the dichotomy, we long for what is non-existent here on earth.
We will not find true fulfillment.
We will not find perfect relationships, perfect love, or perfect peace.
We WILL struggle, have pain and LONG for HEAVEN!!!

It's OKAY!!! It brings me joy just to know that one day, we WILL have all hearts long for!!!

In the meantime, I ask God to fill me with the gift of blessing others.
That my art is grace to the receiver and they are blessed to know that God cares about them and I do too.

So with that, here is a card I created and I am going to use it to enter the Hero Arts challenge for July.
The theme is "summer".

The leaf stamp is a Hero Arts stamp.
The window is cut out and outlined in black ink.
The inset in the window is a card I received from a friend.
I love the colors of the flowers on that yellow/green background.
The leaves are black and silver, but the inset tells me that there are brighter days coming.
http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/july-2011-contest-details/

Thank you for reading the transparency of my heart.
I have to share what's on my heart...
I would love to read any comments you might have.

Be blessed today!!!! and tomorrow, and the days, weeks and years after that!!!

Love,
e

It's JULY already!!!

I know I speak for most of us...where has June gone???
We are having a wonderfully BLESSED summer with family this year!
Our granddaughter came to be with us (she is 15!) We had such a great time!!!

Here she is with her bunny (Nemo)...can't leave home without him.
Then the rest of Kirstin's family came and we have a FULL HOUSE!!! (Fun, noisy, never boring, busy house). I LOVE IT!!! I hate it when they leave, our house gets so quiet!!!

Here is a picture of their youngest son (Eli, 6) petting a horse at the July 4th celebration.
Those police officers were so friendly, it was great for the kids to get such a wonderful impression of them.

Anyway, today I have a new card for you. A bit of a different take because I am trying out a new idea (for me anyway) of having a minimal card with many layers. I really like the look.. it speaks to me on a personal level because I used elements that I really loved. I am not giving this one away because the dangling shell is one I have enjoyed for a long time and don't want to really part with it.

The card base is an off-white cardstock, covered on top with a designer paper I had in my stash.
The embellishment paper is a design I made with alcohol inks on shiny cardstock. I make several pieces and then use them to cut into designs or use like I have here.
The half circle is a Heidi Swapp rub-on, cut in half.
The shell ornament is hanging on a metal loop hanger attached with a large pearl brad.
I wrote "Life is...." by hand and attached a little gold and tan butterfly that I cut out of a Mariposa 8x8 stack.

I am entering this card here http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-style-and-design-team-call.html for a DT call.

I really like the look, hope you do too.
It feels "artsy" to me and that's what I was going for this time.

Thank you so much for looking,
Come back soon,
e

A beautiful Fathers' Day!!!

Hello everyone...what a GORGEOUS day here in Michigan.
It's warm and partly sunny...it's beautiful to me!!!
AND it's Fathers' Day...but unfortunately my hubby is sick with what we think is a kidney stone. Very painful!!! So he is not having a fun day and there's not much we can do about it.
AND we can't go anywhere either.
All our kids are out of state so we can't even have anybody come over (sigh). For me, that's the worst part, except for hubby being sick of course!

So, we've spent the weekend at home and except for taking the time to make dh comfortable, I have pretty much  spent my time making a card and re-doing my stamps.
I LOVE to organize and when my stash kind of outgrows its designated space, I love to re-think and re-do. I found a wonderful scrapbook outlet store that opened just a few months ago. It's a few miles away from me but OMG the deals!!!! She has tons of stuff..and everything is at a great price!!! IT'S LIKE GOING TO A GARAGE SALE!!! I spent several hours in there the other day and came out as happy as a kid with a whole bag of new toys...

So anyway, I bought STUFF... and now I'm reorganizing my stamps and a few other spaces to make it all work the way I like it. I am a very messy stamper...but I have to start with a clean slate. When I get done with a project I clean everything up and then drag out all the stuff I will need for my new art.

So that's me, working in my little corner of the world.

On to this card: My inspiration came from Peet Roeven (http://scrapalbum.blogspot.com/)  I want to give credit where credit is due. I loved her card so much. 

The first layer is white but I colored the design with blue chalk ink (Cuttlebug folder)
The next layer is matted with orange cardstock and the background stamp is Hero Arts,
stamped with Stampin' Up's soft suede. That is the best background color ever!!!
The next layer is kind of an off-white design paper that I stamped and embossed with white flourishes
on the bottom and top. Cut out and then edged with magenta chalk ink. I was disappointed because the embossing is not very visible but looks much better in real life.
The two hearts are stamped with a stamp from Stamps by Judith.
I stamped by putting orange and magenta on the stamp.
I used the same technique on the stalks and leaves. They are stamped with two colors of green.
A hand cut strip with the sentiment stamped in navy blue. (stamp is from my stash)
The little ribbon is one I had from long ago with orange, magenta and blue on it.
How appropriate is that?

Here's the challenges:
http://embellishmagazine.com/blog/
http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/
http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2011/06/simon-says-lets-play-bingo.html
I chose shape, ribbon & sentiment.
http://www.lilypad.inlinkz.com/2011/06/10/may-arts-presents-a-ribbon-challenge/

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Have a blessed week,
e

Proud Grandma to a Michigan Tech Grad!!!

Our oldest grandson graduated with honors from Michigan Tech.
We are so PROUD of him... He is a really outstanding young man and because of that we know that not all our country's young people are having trouble finding their place in life.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude and is going on to MIT in Massachusetts to get his PhD as a chemical engineer.  He is only 19!!!  I never even went to college, but our daughter and her hubby have done a wonderful job with their kids and all of them are pressing forward to go to college...YAY!!!

Soooo, I am making him an 8x11 album with his graduation and Open House photos...
Thought it would be a good thing for him to be able to look back later and remember this wonderful time in his life. He really enjoyed college, even though he really worked hard. It was his first time away from home too...but most of the time kids need to be away so that they can learn to be on their own. I know some kids aren't ready right away like that, but he was.

Well, enough bragging...now about this layout:

Background is a beautiful flourished,blue design paper.
Picture is on a blue mat with a CONGRATULATIONS stamped in gold on the side.
I have had this stamp forever.
Under the picture is a stamp in gold with the words: "Nothing is impossible with God".
The colors of Mich Tech are gold and silver so I put a Martha Stewart edge around the navy mat.
The edge was cut in white and inked in silver.
There is a Hero Arts flourish on the side. I LOVE it...looks very rich.
It is stamped in navy and colored over with Sakura glitter pen in silver.
The left corner flourish is a Cricut cut from "Storybook".
I did some writing on the side and bottom between the gemstones.
The writing says: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God"

I entered this into the Hero Arts challenge for June (congratulation)
and http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com/ which is for Dads & Grads.

I am still working on his book, so I will probably have a few more favorite pages to show.

Thank you so much for stopping by,
please leave me a note and let me know you were here.

Be blessed,

e