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

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

Hearts of Gold

Hello friends.  Today's card was inspired by a card that my friend, Erum, made and shard on her blog VIBGYOR Krafts.  Erum's card has gold hearts on it and I told Erum that I was going to have to make a card with gold hearts and so I did. :)  The card itself is Micca shimmer card stock, the red and gold strips under the mesh are textured, and the printed card stock has gold shimmery glitter on it. The hearts are cut from different textured gold card stocks with my SU heart punch. I added some pearls and scored the edges with my Scor Pal.

Lindsay at The Frugal Crafter has a set of 12 ProMarkers to give away. Go check out the details.  While you're there be sure to watch the great tutorial video she made about coloring with ProMakers.

Challenges:
Papertake Weekly
Woodware USA

Blessings

• The butterflies are back with the warmer weather.  They're so pretty.
• I have an answer to prayer that is too personal to share, but I'm praising God for it big time!!!!
• I won this sweet Teddy Cuddles stamp from Bizzy Becs.
• Phone visits with my mom and sisters. :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Feelin' the Love

Good evening from chilly Florida.  We live in an old home that is very drafty and we're struggling to keep it warm tonight.  It's supposed to get down to 33F.  Not typical Florida weather, though we've been having far more than usual of that type weather this winter.

This card will warm your heart.  The elephant is a digital stamp from Deedee's Digis.  Deedee gave away the set with the elephant in it last week for taking part in her challenge.  The love ticket is a freebie from Stamp Happy!. I used my SU Heart to Heart punch, my Fiskars heart border punch, rhinestones and a tiny button for embellishments. 

Challenges:
Crafting with Deedee's Digis
Scrap Creations
Bunny Zoe's Crafts
Lexi's Creations

Blessings

•  Happy Mail!!!
• Sweet friends. :)
• New audio books from the library to listen to while I craft.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Watch for Falling Leaves

Hello friends.  The rectangular element on the left of the card I'm sharing with you today is made from a napkin.  If you enlarge the photo you can probably see that it has some glitter on it.  In my quest to make flat cards that are easier to mail I have started using faux brads on my cards.  My friend, Kim, taught me how to make faux brads. I'm not sure if I make my faux brads exactly the way Kim taught me, but she definitely gets credit for the original idea. I'll share a faux brad tutorial one day soon.  For the faux brads on this card I used real copper and it iodized.  I decided that added to the interest of the look of the brads.

Blessings

• My nieces have been sick with the flu and they're getting better.
• Happy mail!!!  My sister sent me 3 Magnolia Tilda stamps - my very first Tilda stamps!!!!
• Extra time with Mark on his week off during quarters.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Flutterby Day

Here's my card for Danni's Flutterby Challenge #59. This week's challenge was to use eyelets or brads and a butterfly or fairy on the card. My inspiration for the card design came from a card I received from my friend, Netta. The butterfly is embossed with iridescent sparkle embossing powder, but it doesn't show well in the photo.

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly- unknown

Paper: Mica Stardream

Ink: Encore Ultimate Metallic Purple

Accessories: Stylized Flowers Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, SU Ticket Corner Punch, SU Word Window Punch, Flower Eyelets, Iridescent Sparkle Embosssing Powder






These are pictures of my beautiful daughter, Lydia, dressed up to attend the dinner where she received her award from Avon for making the President's Club again this year. I'm so proud of you Lydia!!! And you looked gorgeous for your dinner. : ) You can purchase Avon online from Lydia here. Email Lydia on her website to get a coupon for free shipping.

Blessings

• A phone call from my sister
• Extra family time this summer
• A visit from a friend
• A gorgeous butterfly on my back porch that was a species I've not seen before

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Pretty Pastels

Back around Easter time I started to make a card for a challenge that called for pastel colors and realized that I didn't have much to choose from in pastel cardstock. Shortly after that I found an excellent buy on some pretty pastel cardstock and since then I've been enjoying having the option of making pastel colored cards. The butterfly stamps used on this card are a gift from my friend Shellie. She knew I was looking for some new butterfly stamps and sent me these as a surprise. I used the Poppin Pastel Technique on the butterflies.








Here's a closer view of the butterflies. Aren't they beautiful stamps?






Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin Up

Ink: Versamark Watermark Ink Pad

Accessories: Chalks, SU Word Window Punch, Brads, Coluzzle Oval Template, Edger Scissors



Blessings

• Caring friends
• A phone visit with my mom
• Time to spend praying
• Laughter
  
  

Have a fabulous day!!!!
Inky hugs!
Shelly

Twice as Mice

Hello Friends
Sorry about disappearing off the radar. I tore my cornea and the light from the computer made it more painful, so I avoided the computer for awhile.

Today's get well card is pretty straight forward. I used Prismacolor pencils, chalk and gel pens to color the image. I used my Scor Pal to score the edges of the white card stock. My SU Word Window punch made the tabs at the bottom of the card. I love my SU punches. There are a couple more I'd still like to get some day.

Supplies:
Stamps: Town Mouse by Inkadinkado
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Paper: Light blue -Bazzill; Striped - Basic Grey; Others - unknown
Accessories: Scor Pal, SU Word Window punch, brads, Prismacolor pencils, gel pens, chalks


Blessings:

• Good health insurance
• A very caring and helpful husband
• Books on tape

Have a fabulous day!!!
Inky hugs!
Shelly

Last, but not least

I am so goofy. Last year we bought some gorgeous cards, because I send store bought Christmas cards to people who don't know the difference. When it came time to mail the cards I couldn't find them anywhere. We finally decided that maybe they had accidently gotten thrown away. After Christmas when I was unburying the house from the holiday rush, I found the box of cards buried on our roll top desk, so I saved them for this year. Today I went to get the cards to address them and they weren't where they belong. I have searched high and low for the cards and can't find them anywhere. I can't imagine what I did with them. lol Last year some friends gave us about 5 boxes of beautiful cards that they had decided not to use. That got me out of my jam. I may be digging back into that stash of cards this year if Mark can't find my box of cards somewhere when he gets home.
Here is the third and final card in my series of One Stamp, Three Looks. For this card I paper pieced the Christmas tree. I adhered it to the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossed background, which I had added Icicles Stickles to. I cut the corners of the dp with a SU punch that I can't remember the name of right now. (Too bad these things aren't labeled. lol ) The Christmas tree stamp is from Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Company. Be sure to check out their new images. On the catalog page click on "Late Fall 2008 Supllement". You will be adding some of these to your Chrstmas list. : )


And I have a little surprise for you. : ) I have a fourth card to show you that is made with this Christmas tree stamp, but it isn't made by me. You'll have to visit Sue's blog, Purplestamper's Musings to see this pretty card. It's fun to see how different it is from any of the cards I made. I love to see what different people do with the same stamp. When I used to teach stamping classes I would marvel at the different touches that each person put on the same project.


Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

One Stamp, Three Looks

Happy Thursday! It rained here all day, because we have another cold front coming in. It was good weather for staying in and working on the craft projects I'm trying to finish for Christmas.
This evening Mark's student's performed their annual Christmas play. It went very well. In fact one boy performed even better for the audience than he had in practice. He brought the house down with laughter. Thankfully Mark's voice made it through the evening as he is extremely hoarse now.

Both stamps on this card are from Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Company. The Christmas tree is painted with Twinkling H2O's. I mixed colors to get the green and pink, because I only have some of the most basic colors. I added tiny rhinestones to the heart and a larger rhinestone to the star brad. Some lace and ribbon finished off the card. Tune in next time to see what else I will do with the tree stamp. : )


I ran across a blog that I am finding alot of useful information on. It's called Inspirational Tips, Techniques, and Tutorials. Many different people write for the blog and you never know what you will find as the subject, but it is all craft related. Enjoy!


Have a fantastic day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Goodie Pouches

Brrrrr!!!! It feels like the holidays are here. We have been having alot of cold weather this year. We will definitely get to wear a pretty sweater for Thanksgiving this year. Alot of years we don't even get to wear one for Christmas. The only problem with this is that I'm in the midst of losing weight and I don't have any sweaters in the size I'm wearing right now. Ten more pounds off and I'll be able to wear some pretty sweaters I have. That gives me something to work toward. Meanwhile I need to figure out something to wear tomorrow.

Do you like the goodies pouches? They hold quite a bit as you can see in the second photo. Cut a 7"x 9 1/2" piece of cardstock. Score it at 2 1/2" and 7". Use a circle punch to cut a 1/2 circle in the front panel. Adhere bottom & back flaps closed. I used Provo Craft Terrifically Tacky Tape (double stick red liner tape). Crimp the bottom of the pouch approx. 5/8". Decorate the front panel as desired. I cut a piece of white cardstock, scored all 4 edges with my Scor-pal to make it more finished looking, punched the corners with my SU ticket punch, stamped "Merry Christmas" with a My Paper Moon stamp, adhered two ornaments cut with my Sizzix ornament die and added two bows tied with 1/4 ribbon. I also added touches of Crystal Stickles to the ornaments.

Today's kid's craft is Paper Plate Santas. You will notice that the crafts I'm posting are very simple, but with a bit of thought they can be adapted for a child who needs more of a challenge. You will need: red construction paper, a paper plate, cotton balls, markers or crayons, glue, and scissors. On the paper plate draw santa's eyes, nose, and mouth. Brush some glue above his eyes and around his mouth and add cotton balls to form his eyebrows, mustache, and beard. Cut a triangle out of red construction paper for Santa's hat. Glue the hat to the top of the plate. Glue one cotton ball to the tip of the hat for a pom pom. Let dry.

***For an older child googly eyes would be fun. Also, they could cut a hat shape out rather than just a triangle. They could make Santa's cheeks rosey.

I hope to get a chance to slip on here tomorrow, but if I don't I wish you all a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Inky hugs!

Shelly

A Card that Makes Me Smile

Happy Thursday! I'm popping in here rather late, but at least I made it. : )


It is still overcast here in Florida. That is highly unusual for us. We're having rain, but not all day long and typically it is only overcast while it rains. Maybe I should listen to the weather forecast and find out what's happening. lol


I made this card because the stamps made me think of my two nieces, who live all the way up in Michigan. They have a swingset that they are often on and they have a chihuahua puppy. They got their puppy this summer and it is now over the 2 lb. mark in weight. Tiny huh? But I digress. The girl stamps on the card are TAC stamps from the Sunshine set, the grass stamp is from My Paper Moon, and the Believe stamp is a TAC stamp too. I colored the images with colored pencils. The shirt on the girl on the swing is paper pieced. I stamped & sponged the grass with lettuce ink. I sponged the sky with deep turquoise ink. I added a some jeweled brads to match the glitter in the background paper.


I ended up getting my hair cut by someone besides the gal who has been cutting it for years. It came out too short and the thing it wants to do is spike. Unless I'm careful how I style my hair, I go around looking like one of those Chia Pet Plants with the grass hair that grows straight up out of their heads. lol Thank goodness hair grows quite rapidly.


Have a great day!!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Torn Paper Layers

This is a card I made about a month ago. It's a fun card to make when you're not in the mood for anything technical. It's just the three layers of torn cardstock on a piece of dp that I used my ticket corner punch on. I used Sepia ink dtp on the torn layers and for my stamping. Both stamps I used are from My Paper Moon. BTW, My Paper Moon just came out with some new victorian images. Be sure to check them out.

Many moons ago my dh drew some of the stamps in the Stampsations line of rubber stamps that My Paper Moon carries. Fond Memories. : )

Stamps used:

Both from My Paper Moon

Spatter Background

All that I Have Seen

I had a nice long talk with my sister, Sheila, by phone last night. She is in isolation right now, because she is radioactive due to cancer treatment. Please pray for her and her family. This is the 4th time she has battled cancer in 8 years. It was so good to be able to talk everything over and to share some good laughs together. We always laugh ourselves breathless when we talk or get together.

Is there something I can pray about for you? If so, please let me know at webe34him@bellsouth.net.

Have a great day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly