A - Maze- ing

A card at last!!!  Between a flu bug and the holiday I just haven't been able to get many cards finished.  I'll warn you in advance that I am very much a hit and miss blogger during the holidays.  I like to cherish every bit of family time we can get and I get busy with preparations.  And in the midst of all that I try to make sure that I take time to remember the real reason for Christmas - the birth of Jesus.

This card is for my niece, who just turned seven.  I wanted to make something fun and I remembered seeing this maze in a Paper Creations magazine that Mark bought for me several months ago.

Blessings

• A super, special husband.  Mark cooked Thanksgiving dinner, because I was still feeling really sick.  We're still enjoying the yummy leftovers.
• My mil brought us cornbread dressing and apple dumplings for our dinner.  She's a terrific cook too.
• Back to my special husband - he surprised me with some warm pajamas and remembered the style, the fabric and size I like without asking.  And they're pretty too. :)  What a fabulous guy!!!  The pjs have felt so good during this cold snap we've had. 

Please pray for my daughter, Lydia.  She's sick now.

Is there anything I can pray about for you?  If so, leave a comment or email me at webe34him@bellsouth.net.

*** Watch for a bit of blog candy coming soon. :)

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wishing you and those you love a blessed Thanksgiving!!!

Inky hugs!!!

Shelly

 

Let's Say Thanks

I'm sorry I've been absent without excuse. :)  I've had several appointments and in between I've been either busy or not feeling too well.

I want to encourage you to take part in a great program that Xerox has called "Let's Say Thanks".    It's site where you can choose a post card to print with a message and they will send it to a member of the military in Iraq for you to sat thank you for their service.  How awesome is that?  The Xerox Let's Say Thanks site can be found here.  Please take a moment to let a member of our troops know how much you appreciate their service.

Blessings

• The freedom we have in our country.  That's something we should never take for granted.
• A date with my husband yesterday. :)
• Awesome happy mail!!!
• We had rain last night!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Special Birthday Card & Candy Winner

I'm still hoping to hear from my blog candy winner, Doris from The Stamping Tower.  Please email me with your address, Doris.

This is the card that I made for my daughter, Lydia, for her birthday.  The card is blue, because that's Lydia's favorite color. :)

The "sugar" on the cupcake is vintage glass glitter that my friend, Becky, gave me.  It looks so real for things like this.  The tulips are 3-d'd on double stick tape.  Tilda's hair bow is paper sculpted to make it puffy.  Tilda is 3-d'd on double stick tape.

Blessings

• Some good news at my doctor visit today.
• Happy Mail - I know you see this one often, but I do love to receive mail. :)
• Our friend's birthday is the day after Lydia's.  Our friend turned 99 this year!  This dear lady still plays the piano for our Sunday morning church service.  

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Blog Candy Winner

Thank you everyone for taking part in the Veterans Day Blog Hop.  The winner of my blog candy chosen by Random.org is......
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#10  Doris from The Stamping Tower   

Congratulations Doris!!!!  Please email me with your address so that I can send your stamps to you.

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Veterans Day Blog Hop

Welcome to the Veterans Day Blog Hop.  If this is your first stop, you may want to start at the beginning of the hop which is here at the Home Front Blog.   Today's blog hop is being hosted by Operation Write Home.  Operation Write Home is a wonderful organization that collects handmade cards to send to our nation's deployed heroes (troops) to send home to their families and friends.  They also collect Any Hero cards to send to heroes that aren't getting much mail or just need a lift.  I'm proud to be a card maker for Operation Write home and our nation's heroes.  I hope you'll join us in making cards. Operation Write Home makes it so simple to get the cards to the troops.  Their web site contains all the info you need to get started.

With Veterans Day in mind, I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to the many people who have served and are still serving our country.  We wouldn't have our wonderful USA if it wasn't for you. 

My first card is an Any Hero card.  Any Hero cards are sent with a note written in them and the envelope is addressed to "Any Hero".  Upon reaching their destination these cards are handed out to those who need them the most.  I apologize for the poor photo of this card.  It came out dark looking no matter what I did. 

My second card is a Valentine for a hero to send home to family or friends.  Valentine's Day is the holiday that we're making cards for at Operation Write Home at this time.  This is a fun little shaker card.  I thought it might be something a bit different to send.

I'm offering this set of Inkadinkado Patterned Birds and Bugs clear stamps for my blog candy on this blog hop.  All you have to do to win is leave me a comment.  My candy is open to everyone.  My blog candy will be open through Monday, November 16th.  I'll announce the winner in the evening on Tuesday, November 17th.

Thanks for hopping by today. Your next stop on the hop is Maryellen's blog.

Inky hugs!
Shelly

It's Red Friday!!!

Hi friends.  I'm just popping in here for a few minutes to remind you about the Veterans Day Blog Hop tomorrow - Saturday November 14th.  It will start at The Home Front Blog and there will be 75 blogs to hop through.  Come show your support for our nations heroes, see some great cards and enter to win some blog candy along the way.  I'll have blog candy here, so be sure to stop in.

Sorry I don't have a card today, but I'll have cards and candy tomorrow and another card on Sunday.

Blessings

• Yesterday was my daughter's birthday.  A good time to reflect what a precious gift from the Lord she is.
• A too short haircut has proven to be a blessing in saving time when I'm getting ready to go somewhere.
• A really nice visit with a friend.
• Happy mail :)
  

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Christmas Preview

Christmas is getting all too close and I don't have very many Christmas cards made yet.  Here's one that I do have done.  I painted the image with Twinkling H2O's.  I used Star Dream card stock to go along with the shimmery paint.  I dry embossed the black card stock with my Scor Pal to frame the image.  This is such a beautiful image that I kept the card simple to keep the focus on the image.

Blessings

•  Mark & Lydia are always willing to lend a hand when I need it.
• Time to spend in prayer despite my busy schedule this week.  I need the prayer time to keep going.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugz!
Shelly

Thanks Sis

A big thank you to my sister, Sheila.  I wanted the above new header for my blog, but it had writing on it and I didn't know how to erase the writing and add what I wanted.  Sheila surprised me by doing it for me!  And then when I couldn't upload it on to my blog from the email she sent it in, Sheila even put it on my blog for me.  Thanks for the surprise, Sheila, and for still helping me out even though we're grown up now. :)

Hugs,
Shell

Let Us Give Thanks

Hi friends. Today's card is for the challenge at There's Magic in the Air.  Every Monday Nina has a free digital image on There's Magic in the Air and then Nina or one of her DT members issues a challenge using the image.  This week's challenge is to use buttons on your card. I really enjoyed coloring this beautiful Fall image from Nina.

I added Crystal Lacquer to the jar, Stickles to the candle flame and matte PPA to the candle to give them some realistic texture.

Nina also gave away two different sentiment to use this week.  This one was my favorite.  I made my buttons using a Sizzlet button die.  I coated the buttons with Crystal Lacquer, tied thread through them after they were dry and adhered them to my card with double stick foam tape.

Blessings

• A phone visit with my sister.
• Happy Mail!!!
• A husband who does the shopping due to my health problems.
  

Have a blessed day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Spread the Love

Today's card is for an 11 year old girl named Jaimie.  Jaimie and her mom were attacked in their home while they were sleeping.  Jaimie's mom was killed and Jaimie was left for dead.  The Spread the Love Blog Hop is going on to get people to send cards to Jaimie.  You begin the blog hop here at Katharina's blog.  You will also find more info about the whole situation there.   I hope you will send Jaimie a card even if you don't have time to join in the blog hop.  The address is:

Jaimie Cates
c/o Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon, NH 03057

You can also visit the main blog, which is Stamp Something for Jaimie. 

Jaimie is very into sports, so I decided to use this surfing Tilda.  Obviously Jaimie doesn't surf in NH, but I like this surfer Tilda, because I'm sending my cards from Florida.

I added real sand and shells to the card for a fun touch. The sun and the surf board are popped up with double stick foam tape.

Blessings

• Mark made it home safely from a business trip that included evacuating his 5th floor hotel room in the middle of the night for a fire alarm.
• Lydia just finished up a good dog sitting job.
• Happy mail :)

Happy a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

I'm so excited!

I won some fabulous blog candy from Loretta at Stamping with Loretta!!!  I am so thrilled!  I've been doing a major happy dance. :) Thank you so much for this very generous candy, Loretta.

Inky hugs!
Shelly

It's Red Friday

Hi Friends.  I apologize for missing Red Friday on my blog last week.  I had prepared for it, but life doesn't always go according to plan. :)  First of all, don't forget to wear red today to show your support for our troops.


Big news!!!  The Veterans Day Blog Hop is coming up on Saturday, November 14th.  Please come hop along in support of our nation's heroes.  There will be great cards to see along the way and some yummy candy to win. Operation Write Home would love to have more participants in the hop.  If you want to be a part of the hop, you can find more info here.

I have another Valentine to share with you this week.  Many of the cards I send in my next batch to OWH will be Valentines as that's the next holiday coming up on the Operation Write Home Calendar.  If you're new to my blog, Operation Write Home collects handmade cards and sends them to our nations heroes (troops) so that they have nice cards to send home to their families and friends.  If you'd like to become involved you can find more info here.

Blessings

• Friends - both in person and online.
• A wonderful answer to prayer that I can't share the details of without breaking a confidence.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Good Reminder

This card is for Flutterby Challenge #82 at Danni's Dreams and for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #11.  Danni is letting us have an open week for Flutterby Challenge as long as our card has a Flutterby on it.  I hope Danni is feeling much better.  Danni and her kids have had the flu.  Last I heard the kids had bounced back, but Danni still wasn't feeling too well.

The verse for this Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge is Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (NIV)  We were challenged to create something about when God is unseen.  Something that will remind us that God is with us.  This is subject is such a great reminder that God is always with us.  It was a real blessing to my heart as I worked on this card.  The verse on my card says, "He will never leave you or forsake you". The center of the silk flower is a glitterly faux brad to match the Stickles I put on the image flower centers.
 

Blessings

• A friend who has been sick is doing much better.
• It was so nice out today.  Cooler and breezy.  I had to spend some time outside just for the sheer joy of it.
• The gift of laughter.  We've been chuckling over a humorous incident for two days.
  
• A visit from my daughter today. 

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Life is Full of Surprises!

I love the fun image on this card.  The sentiment inside says, "I hope your birthday is filled with surprises!". :)

Here's a close up view of the image.  Isn't the dragon adorable?

I'm hobbling a bit. Monday evening I tripped coming over the dog gate in a rush and landed with all my weight on my knee. Ouch!  I think I learned my lesson to open the gate. lol

Blessings

• My fabulous husband.  There aren't many men out there to equal him.
• There are butterflies fluttering around outside as I write this.  So beautiful!
• Living in Florida where I can see butterflies in November. 
  
• Happy Mail!  That always makes my day. :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Happy Fall Y'All!

Today's card is shimmery in person.  I used Star Dream card stock, Brilliance Ink, and a foil leaf embellishment.  My favorite part of the card is the background paper that I stamped.  I layered 3 different stamps and 3 different colors of ink to make it.  Fun stuff!

***Several people have asked me what I'll do with all of my brads and other embellishments now that I'm trying to make flatter cards.  They will still be put to good use.  I'll use them on cards occasionally, but mostly I'll use them in my scrapbooks and on gifts and other dimensional projects. I can't give up embellishments. :)

Blessings

• Someone I know, who needed a job, got one!
• My brother's new baby girl arrived safely and as cute as can be. :)
• We were able to get some furniture that we no longer needed moved out today.
  

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

The Winner!!!

Thank you all for signing up for my blog candy and for your sweet blogaversary wishes.  I wish everyone could win some blog candy from me, but there can only be one winner. Watch for some mini blog candy coming in the future.

I used random.org to choose the winner.  I tired to show the results, but couldn't get the little random gizmo to upload.

The winner is......
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.    Kristie from Kreated by Kristie    Congratulations Kristie!!!!!  Please send me your address so that I can mail your candy to you.

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Time for Some Blog Candy!!!

My first blogaversary was in September while I was still recovering form my surgery.  Mark surprised me that day with a card, a scrapbooking magazine and some Jelly Bellys.  Wasn't that sweet?  Anyhow, I want to give away some blog candy for my blogaversary even though it's late.  Here's a photo of the goodies.

• Clear Stamp Set from Inkadinkado
• Wood Mounted Stamp from Inkadinkado - I've fallen in love w/these kid's saying stamps. :)
  
• Package of KandCompany Florals and Swooshes Chipboard Shapes
• We R Memory Keepers Flocked Lace
• Natures Collage Butterfly Ribbon
• Creative Imaginations Bare-Elements Daisy Mini Book
• Flora Doodles Handmade Jeweled Flowers
• KandCompany Butterflies
• Clear Mini Stamps Admit One
• 3 Packages of Basic Grey Bling It

I based the theme of my blog candy mainly on flowers and butterflies, because they are two of the things that I really enjoy seeing out my windows as I craft.

To win the blog candy, please leave a comment for me and mention my blog candy on your blog.  If you don't have a blog, please tell me what group or friend you will be sharing news of my blog candy with.  I want everyone to have a chance to win. :) If you don't know how to leave a comment, email me at webe34him@bellsouth.net and I'll be happy to type one in for you.  I realize that not everyone is familiar with how a blog works.

You can leave comments through October 31st.  I'll announce the winner on November 1st.
***This blog candy is closed.  The winner will be announced later today.***
Inky hugs!
Shelly