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