You Go Girl!

Hello friends.  My health has been worse than usual for several months, so I haven't been posting or crafting much for that matter. This is also why I've been hit & miss about commenting on blogs.  Just too sick to keep up with anything extra. Normally there are about 23 foods total that I can eat without being sick due to my stomach problem.  Right now the only foods my tummy can tolerate are saltine crackers and oatmeal.  I'm trying not to take pain medicine as that makes my stomach problem worse.  Between the bad pain and the constant nausea it can be very hard to function.  But enough of my woes. :)

On to the card.  I have a friend who is on a weight loss journey and having been on that journey myself I know that encouragement is always welcome.  The image on the card front and the inside sentiment are digital stamps from Doodle Pantry. I tried to give the bird a bit of a feathery look with my coloring.

Inside the card.

Challenges:
 Word Art Wednesday #50 Encouraging or uplifting sentiments.

Twist of Faith Card Challenges #7 Your Favorite - Encouraging cards are my favorite kind to make & this card uses purple, which is one of my favorite colors.

For quite some time now I've been admiring planters made from vintage wooden chairs.  I never said anything to hubby about this.  Recently he came home telling me about this old chair he found that he wanted to turn into a planter and wondered what I thought of the idea.  It's rather amazing how often our minds come together on things without discussing them first.  I guess it comes from 31 years of terrific marriage. :)  So anyhow, this is a picture of the chair planter right after hubby finished it.  The chair has some seriously awesome chippy, old paint.  Makes my heart smile.

Blessings

• My mom came safely through surgery she had on Sunday.
• The lovely fall weather.  Such a wonderful time of the year!
• Happy mail. :)

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Great New Challenge!!!

Hi friends.  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  Today we worked on more of the finishing touches for our newly renovated bathroom.  We still have things left to do, but it's looking more finished and we can use the shower/tub.  That means we now have a functioning toilet, sink and shower/tub all in the same bathroom. Woohoo! Life is good. lol

There's a new challenge blog that I am excited about.  It's called Anything But A Card Challenge Blog. It's a bi-weekly challenge blog where you can show off your created items! Anything except cards!  Sounds like just what I need.  Sometimes I get in a rut.  Stop over and see what they're all about and sign up for their awesome blog candy while you're there.

Blessings:

• A wonderful, new to us refrigerator.
• My nephew passed his driver's test and got his license!!!
• Hubby's heart is continuing to do very well since his surgery.
• The joy of being part of a close, loving family.

Have a terrific day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Anniversary Love!

Hey there friends. The original design I had in mind for this anniversary card called for my new Nestibilities die.  So I made my plate "sandwich" and started to run it through my Cuttlebug and next thing I knew one end cover blew off of my Cuttlebug and the plates came flying back out at me and hit me in the shin and foot.  I ended up with a big goose egg on my shin and a bruised toe.  Gotta watch out for those Cuttlebug attacks. lol   I'm not sure what caused my poor Cuttlebug to "explode".  I had my "sandwich" properly stacked and was only cutting card stock.  The one thing I did differently was that I rolled the sandwich through and then turned the handle and started to roll it back through the other way.  This is something I don't normally do, so maybe that was the problem.  If hubby can't fix my Cuttlebug, I'll be saving for a new one. :( 

The digital image I used on my card is from Shoregirl's Creations.  I used a SU punch to cut the little banner flags out of printed paper and stamped the letters on them.  I had planned to print a July calendar to use, but we were out of black ink, so I used the July page from one of my calendars.  I'm happy with how this card turned out considering I couldn't use my Cuttlebug or my printer as I had originally planned to. :)

I'm entering these challenges:

DL.Art Thankful Thursday - Weddings or Anniversaries
The Stamp Man - Anything Goes Celebrations
Sweet n' Sassy - Use Flags or Banners

Blessings

• A great week of VBS at our church.
• My hubby's extra help and concern as I haven't been feeling at all well lately.
• Some delicious cake. I don't eat sweets very often, so I really enjoy them when I do. :)

Have a terrific day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Christmas Cheer

Hi friends.  I'm wondering if the Christmas in July kick I'm on lately is a sub-conscious wish for cooler weather.  Just kidding!  I honestly can't complain about the weather we've had in Florida this summer.  We did have quite a thunder storm today though.  Lightning struck a tree in our neighbor's yard.  That was loud!

The darling digi stamp I used is from the Cherry Kiss Collection at Pollycraft.  Pollycraft closed last month, but you can still visit Paula's blog.  I apologize for the blurry picture.  I didn't realize it was blurry until I saw it on here and I'm too tired to take another one right now.  I'll try to take a new picture tomorrow.  I paper pierced along the wavy border, added faux flower soft to the snowballs, added Stickles to the snow on the ground and the coat and hat trim and finished off the hat with a holly brad.  I also stippled in some blue sky.  My papers and the holly brad are from my stash, so they qualify for the Clear It Out Challenge.

You can see in this picture that the snowballs are dimensional.  A fun feature for a card that will go to a young girl.

I'm entering these challenges:

Stampin' Sisters In Christ - Sparkle

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Christmas in July

DL.ART Challenge - Christmas in July

Clear It Out - Christmas in July - Use something red or green.

Blessings

• My daughter is helping me clean out some stuff we no longer need.  The trick is for us not to keep any of each other's discarded stuff. :)
• Good music.  It's so uplifting.
• My hubby's paitence and love in fixing my computer for me frequently as it's getting old and problematic.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Blue Christmas

Hi friends.  More Christmas in July today. :)  The digi image I used on this card is from Paper Cupcakes.  I'm not sure who makes the little sentiment stamp.  The hat is trimmed with some faux flower soft and I used Stickles on the ice.  The rest is just bits and pieces from my stash.

I'm entering these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #36 - Encouraging or Uplifting Sentiment.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ #148 - Sparkle

2 Sisters #100 - Christmas in July

52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown - July Color Challenge

Catch the Bug Saturday Challenge - Christmas Cards for Kids.

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Christmas in July

Blessings

• My sweet, little dog snuggled up next to me.
• A great sale on some otc medications we neeeded. 
• I thank God for a husband who not only does the shopping, due to my health problems, but also searches to find excellent buys. 
• Mark bought a used flip side belgian waffle maker this weekend.  We had delicious, belgian waffles for supper tonight.
• Extra time with my sweetheart this afternoon. My favorite way to spend a day.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Christmas in July

Hi friends.  Don't ask me why I'm messing with Christmas cards when I have half a dozen other projects under way that I should be working on.  Sometimes my creativity gets a wild hair and wants to do the opposite of what I want it to do, so I go with the flow. :)  I saw this folded Christmas tree in a magazine awhile back, but they didn't give the instructions for it.  Mark and I messed around with some double sided paper until we came up with a tree fold.  I made the trees up ahead to be added to cards at a later time.  I often make elements ahead for my cards that way. I have since found a tutorial for the tree fold.  The tutorial uses a scalloped circle, so the tree is a bit more fancy than mine.
I stamped "JOY" with a typewriter alphabet by and used a punch to cut the letters out. 

I'm entering these challenges:

Card Crafters Circle #31 - Christmas in July

Card Caravan #22 - Christmas in July

DL. ART Thankful Thursday - Christmas in July

Sarah Hurley Challenge #70 - Buttons

Blessings:

• I used my birthday money to purchase a box of books and audio books.  I'm in the midst of 5 of them right now.  Utter bliss!!!!  Here's a link to the awesome book sale that enabled me to purchase so many new books at once.
• A sweet note from a friend.
• We were given a "new to us" toaster with slots that are big enough for bagels.  It's so nice to be able to easily pop a bagel into the toaster.  A big thank you to our friends. :)

Have a terrific day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

A "Punny" Card

Hi friends.  In May I won a challenge at Stampin' Sisters In Christ and my prize was 3 digital stamp sets of my choice from Doodle Pantry Digital Doodles. I used images from one of the sets I choose on today's card.  I figured this "punny" set would be sure to bring a smile to someone that is sick.  I wish I had added some shimmer to the fish, but didn't think of it until after I had already covered the fish bowl with clear vinyl to make it look like glass.  Next time!  I made the background paper using the Polished Stone Technique.  I make this paper up ahead of time in large batches, so that I have it on hand when I need it.  Plus it's kind of addictive to make when you get going. :)  I used an embossing folder and ink for my other paper.  The card itself is a beautiful, metallic, silvery blue.  The card sketch is from Fetch a Sketch.  I seldom use sketches, because I'm never sure how creative I'm allowed to be with them for challenges.  Here's hoping my version is okay. :)

I'm entering these challenges:

Stampin' Sisters in Christ #147 - Use at least 1 circle or oval element, at least 2 different papers and at least 1 embellishment.

Word Art Wednesday #36 - Use an encouraging or uplifting sentiment.

Fetch A Sketch #28 - Follow the sketch.

Blessings

• We had a little rain yesterday.
• Sweet, juicy watermelon that was given to us. 
• Mark is feeling well on his busier work schedule this week.
• Funny things kids do that make us smile.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

My post title is fitting for my card, but also for how we feel about God bringing our family through my husband's heart surgery in June.  Mark had a nine hour surgery.  We had planned that I would come home nights, but when I finally saw Mark after that long operation, I knew that I couldn't leave him, especially since I would be 1 1/2 hours from the hospital.  Not only did he look rugged, but they had multple things hooked up to both of his hands and arms, so his hands and arms were pretty well useless.  It ended up that I was able to stay with him in his room the whole time he was hospitalized. We are so grateful to our daughter for taking over here at home, so that I could stay. It was a terrific hospital.  Best care I've ever seen.  Mark is healing very well.  He has a some side effects, but nothing that he isn't supposed to have at this point in healing.  Last week was his first week back on full days at work.  He's glad to be out from under the strict restrictions he had at first. :)  We are so very thankful for how well Mark is doing and for how God worked out the details of so many things for us during this time.  We can truly say God was faithfully with us every step of the way.  A big thank you to all of you who prayed for us and encouraged us during this time.  It meant so much to both of us.  Mark received lots of happy mail.  He really enjoyed it.

As many of you know, we live and work at a resdential, Christian boy's ranch ministry.  The boys have been at their homes for summer break, but returned today.  Tomorrow starts summer school and camp for our boys.  This will be a more true test for Mark's energy and stamina, so please pray for him. 

The hymn on my card came in this circle form.  It's from Beyond the Fringe.  I cut the tree out of a vintage image from Shoregirl's Creations.  The butterfly a friend gave to me, the corner punch is SU, the button is a vintage one, the cork under the button is from my stash and so are the twine and brads.
And, of course, all the papers have been inked on the edges. :)

I'm entering my card in these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday - Encouraging or Uplifting Sentiment
Joanna Sheen Challenge - Going Round in Circles - The hymn cut in a circle and the round button & cork & brads.
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - 1 Circle or Oval Element, 2 Papers and 1 Embellishment (at least) - Hymn button, cork and brads are circle elements, I used 3 papers -  the background paper, the corner punch paper, & the butterfly paper.  Multiple embellishments

Blessings

• Affordable fruit!
• Such pretty wild flowers in our patch.
• A fun, family evening eating and playing games by the ocean.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Blessings and hugs!
Shelly

Prayers Please

Hi friends.  I'm popping in to ask for your prayers.  My husband is having heart surgery on Monday June 8th.  The hospital where he's having his surgery is an hour and a half from home.  I'll be getting a ride back and forth each day, because I'm needed at home at night.  Thanks so much for taking the time to pray.

Blessings,
Shelly

So Blessed!

Hi friends.  The majority of this magnet is made from a double-sided sheet of dp called Laurel Scrap Strip 2 from Scenic Route Paper.  I received this paper from a friend and as soon as I saw it I knew I would make something for my home with it, because the sentiment so expresses how I feel.  I am blessed, abundantly blessed.  That doesn't mean that life is always easy or that I never have problems.  What it does mean is that I recognize how wonderfully God works in my life and cares for me. No matter what my circumstances, with God in my life I can always say, "I am abundantly blessed.".

For my magnet I started with a chipboard frame from K& Co.  I covered it with a scrap of card stock.  The background is a piece of the dp.  The sentiment is also cut from the dp. The little bird is cut from the dp, backed with card stock to make it more durable and mounted on double stick foam tape.  I put a piece of a Sizzix flourish die cut behind the sentiment and finished off the magnet with a few rhinestones.  All of the papers are inked, of course.  I'm not sure I can make a paper project without inking my papers. :)

I'm linking to:
Word Art Wednesday #31
Moving Along With The Times Anything But A Card
Southern Girls Challenge Things With Wings
Fab' n' Funky Go Green!
Whimsy Stamps Challenge Things With Wings

Blessings

• A great date with my hubby!
• A wonderful answer to prayer!
• The joy of working together as a family on a project.
• Today I found two items that I had misplaced for quite some time. :)

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad!

Hi friends.  The beautiful vintage image on my card is from The Graphics Fairy.  Karen at The Graphics Fairy offers all sorts of wonderful vintage images for free.  Please be sure to leave her a nice thank you if you if you download one of her images.  The verse I used is from Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Company.

My card base is kraft.  I aged the the doily and the dictionary page that I used for a background by soaking them in strong coffee for about 5 minutes.  All of the papers are inked on the edges.  I added some Stickles to the lilacs and used a clear lacquer pen on the bird's eye.  I finished my card off with a twine bow and an antique button that has a pretty design on it.

I'm entering these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #30 Scripture or Uplifting or Encouraging Sentiment.
Frilly and Funkie Kraft and Twine
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge Background Text
Little Miss Muffet Rainbows, Clouds, or Wings
The Paper Shelter Vintage or Shabby Chic

Blessings

• After some setbacks, my grand dog is improving from his surgery. 
• Pretty marbles in a jar with the sun shining through.
• Working together as a family to make life easier or better for each other.
• Delightful weather.

Have a glorious day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Wall Hanging

Hi friends.  No card today. :)  I made a wall hanging for my craft room.  The verse I used is last week's word art from Word Art Wednesday.  The pictures aren't very good, because I had to take them at night.  For those of you who expressed an interest in having the instructions for making the flower I made for my card in my last post, I'll try to share the instructions soon.  Life has been a tad hectic lately.  Among other things, we're preparing for hubby to have heart surgery in just over 2 weeks and there is a lot involved for that.  We would sure appreciate your prayers.

 I'm entering these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #29 Scripture or encouraging or uplifting sentiment
Scripture Thursday #30 Scripture
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge Anything but a card

My grand dog, Caesar, had surgery yesterday to remove a growth and as you can see he's a miserable little guy.  He'll have his stitches in for at least a week and can't jump up on anything or use the stairs.  I think it's going to be a long week for him and us.

As you can see in this picture my dog, Princess, is very upset over having her best buddy be in pain and distress and wearing a strange cone on his head. 

Blessings

• $50 tennis shoes for $12!!!
• Painted toenails for summer :)
• Watching a young squirrel play in a tree. 

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Blessings that overflow!

Isn't the sentiment on this card awesome?  "May Your Day Overflow With Blessings!".  I just love that. :)  It's from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co.  I own all sorts of terrific sentiment and verse stamps from this company.  Last week I won the Word Art Wednesday Challenge and the prize is some stamps of my choice from Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Co.  I'm thrilled to pieces to be getting new stamps from one of my favorite companies!  Anyhow, back to my card.  In the near future, I'll be sharing instructions for making the flower I made for my card.  I didn't have time to complete the instructions today.

  I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the flower is very shimmery and pearly in person.

 I'm entering these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday - #28
Stamp, Scrap, And Doodle Saturdays - Flowers
Crazy 4 Challenges Birthday Card

The other day I found this little lizard in our bedroom -up by the bed.  I realize he's just a little guy, but I still don't want him in bed with me. :)  I caught him in an empty pill bottle and booted him out of my room.  I have no clue how he got into my room.  I probably don't want to know.

 Blessings

• Fun shopping at a thrift shop with my daughter.
• A visit from my pileated wood peckers.
• Beautiful weather for friends getting married yesterday & friends having an outdoor 1st birthday party.
• Bubble baths. :)

Have a wonderful Lord's day today!

Blessings & hugs!
Shelly

Butterfly Trio

Hi friends.
Please scroll down to also see my post from earlier today.  I go from not blogging to two posts in one day.  Crazy!

I like the muted colors and inked papers on this card.  It's very "me".  The butterflies are made with the   Martha Stewart Stamp and Punch Set.  The set comes with 3 or 4 stamps that store in the punch itself.  You use the storage lid as the "stamp back".  You punch the stamped images out with the matching punch.  My sister gave me this set and I love it.  The background paper has been embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I love this verse stamp, but sadly don't know what company it's from seeing I got it used and it's an unmounted stamp. 

Linking to:
Word Art Wednesday #27
Scripture Thursday #28
Paper Sundaes - Things with wings
Stamptacular Sunday - Butterfly Kisses
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Any type animal, bird, or bug
Crafty Calendar - Things with Wings

Blessings

• New books
• Hubby went to 3 different stores looking for carob, so that he could surprise me with some brownies for Mother's Day.  (I can't eat chocolate.)  He's so thoughtful and loving.  The brownies are decadently delicious. :)
• My daughter found some beautiful, large pieces of coral at a garage sale for me.  Perfect for our living room redecoration.

Have a fabulous week!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Butterfly Bling

Hello friends.  I hope you all had as great of a Mother's Day as I did.  Mine was filled with tons of love and some wonderful surprises.

I love the verse stamp I used on this card.  I think it is so honoring to a mother.

 I have been seeing some beautiful, glittery butterflies online lately, but don't own a large butterfly die or punch in the right size and shape, so I needed to improvise.  I found some butterfly templates at this link and used one for the basic butterfly shape.  I wanted a body for my butterfly, so I made that part up myself.  With some cardstock, glue, glitter, and flat back pearls I had my glittery butterfly. :)

Linking to:
 Word Art Wednesday #27
 Scripture Thursday #28
Let's Ink It Up - Bling
Paper Sundaes - Things with Wings
Crafty Calendar - Things with Wings
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Any type animal, bird, or bug

Blessings

• A haircut - I hadn't had one in months.
• Loving family - near and far.
• Strawberries

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Tomato-Free Tomato Sauce

Hi Friends
Yes, you read that title correctly. :)  Due to several health issues I have to follow a very restricted diet and one of the things I can't eat is tomato products.  We often have pizza on Friday evenings, because it's something quick and easy to make.  At first I couldn't eat dairy products, but we solved that problem by using soy cheese.  But then I developed an additional health problem and could no longer have tomato products or soy products.  My husband started doing the cooking several years ago due to my poor health and he can be quite innovative.  He did some online research and came up with substitutes for both the tomato sauce and the cheese.  Here is a link to the recipe for the tomato-free tomato sauce he uses.  We freeze the extra sauce and use it as we need it.  You'll need to add any extra spices you would like to make it into pizza sauce.  This recipe is just the basic tomato sauce recipe.

 For cheese on my pizza we use Daiya Mozzarella Shreds.  It's a dairy-free cheese substitute that stretches and melts like real cheese.  I enjoy this cheese in many other recipes too.  It also makes great grilled cheese sandwiches.  Here is the link to locate a store in your area that carries Daiya products.  I hope this post will help others who have restricted diets be able to eat some foods they have been missing. 
 
Blessings

• A good, heavy rain today.
• Fresh produce from our garden.
• Holding hands with my wonderful husband.

I'm linking this post to:  Better Mom Mondays, Mama Moments Monday, Modest Monday, T' Time Party, Mop It Mondays.

Have a terrific day!!!!

Blessings!
Shelly