Christmas Gift Idea #2

Hi friends.  Today's gift idea is a fun way to give money.  I saw this idea on several different blogs and really liked it. Hubby helped me make a bag header in Word.  Then it was just a matter of rolling up each dollar and tying it with ribbon. I nestled the money on a bed of red, shredded paper, stapled the header on to the plastic bag and it was done.  See Christmas Gift Idea #1 here.

Challenges:
Hiding in my Craft Room #176 - Freestyle!
Paper Creators Crafts #33 - All About Christmas
We Do Doobadoo - Get Festive
QKR Stampede #115 - Anything But A Card

Blessings:

• My MIL is doing very well after a bad knee injury.
• My niece has grown in the Lord so much this year.  
• It's back to being warmer here!  The cold weather is very painful for the Trigeminal Neuralgis in my face.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Christmas Gift Idea #1

Hi friends.  I hope that those of you who are American had a lovely Thanksgiving.  We sure did.  Did any of you brave the Black Friday sales?  I did my shopping online and found several good deals.

I'm hoping to share a series of Christmas gift ideas, that will make your gifts a bit more unique, yet are quick and easy to make.  Today I'll share the first one and I hope that this busy season and my health allow me to get back on here soon with my other ideas.

I packaged two pairs of soft socks, a nail file and some nail polish on a bed of red, shredded paper in a plastic bag and cut a topper to fit the bag size.  I stamped the words with alphabet stamps and stamped the flourishes.  I added a few touches of color with markers and used Stickles to add some sparkle.  I inked the edges, stapled the topper on my bag and I was done!  As I look at this picture, I wish I had taken the tag off of the pink socks. :(   This gift isn't my original idea.  I saw it online somewhere and thought it was a cute idea.

Challenges:
Completely Christmas #40 - Anything Goes, Something beginning with S - My S thing is Stickles.
Hiding in my Craft Room #176 - Freestyle!
Paper Creators Crafts #33 - All About Christmas
We Do Doobadoo - Get Festive
QKR Stampede #115 - Anything But A Card

Blessings:

• A cozy, warm home.  (We've been hit with cold temps even here in Florida.)
• Our friends were uninjured in a bad car accident.
• White chocolate - My special holiday treat.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Something New

Hi friends.  I'm coming to you with something totally new for me - an art journal page.  My online friend, Marsha, inspired me to start art journaling.  It's a more vulnerable feeling for me to share this than it is to share a card.  But I tell you I am absolutely loving art journaling.  I can't get enough of it. 

This page is about my "word" for 2014.  My word is "Determined".  I'm determined to make progress in a number of areas of my life, but exercise is one of the biggies and that is what I had in mind when I made this page.  And btw, I'm happy to report that I have been exercising faithfully so far in 2014.

Challenges I'm entering:

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Blessings:

• Discovering art journaling.
• Blueberries
• Safety for my mom when she found herself in a bad situation on slippery roads.

Have a joy-filled day!!!

Inky hugs!
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

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

A Snowy Flight

No card today. Instead I have a calendar page for you.  My friend, Martha, made a calendar for me last year with a new page for each month that slides into a 3 1/2 x 5 acrylic, magnetic frame.  I have enjoyed it so much that I'm working on new 2010 pages.

This image is a free digital image from There's Magic in the Air.  Every Monday Nina gives away a free image and issues a fun challenge.  This week's challenge was "Anything but a Card".   Be sure to check out the fabulous projects that the DT members made.  I made my calendar page for a second great challenge also.  Easy craft Projects - Challenge is having their very first challenge!!!!   The challenge is to "Make Something Using Turquoise".  Stop by and see the wonderful projects that the DT made.  The colors in my photos aren't quite true, but they're the best I can do with only a camera on an overcast day. I miss my photo editing program.

Here you can see the dimensional snow.  I used USArtQuest Artist's cement for the snow.  It isn't a true white, so I added the glitter.  I used my glaze pen on the eye and buttons and Stickles on the hat trim.

This photo shows the frame (R) that the calendar fits in. 

There's Magic in the Air is having a recipe blog hop Wednesday, December 9th to celebrate the debut of Nina's new online store, Paper Cupcakes. Each blog will be showcasing a new image and sharing a yummy recipe. There will be prizes, a recipe challenge and a chance to be the Guest Designer for the Month of February. Sounds like a ton of fun! The hop starts at There's Magic in the Air.

Blessings

• A friend had a very special answer to prayer today.
• The joy that crafting brings.
• Enjoying quiet talk with Mark over lunch.

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly