Good morning! Blessed Sunday to you all! Today begins another challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ! Our hostess this week is the very creative Candace, and she has chosen as her theme "Don't be afraid!"

The Bible verse that inspired that is:

"The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"

Psalm 118:6

So....we are to do something on our card that we're "afraid" of! For example, CAS style, stitching, a vintage look, etc. Just do something you wouldn't normally do! All of my DT sisters came up with lovely and amazing card samples this week! Check them out at Stampin' Sisters in Christ.

Our generous sponsor for this challenge is Sweet n' Sassy Stamps and the winner will receive

 3 digital images of the winner's choice!

 I think I am fairly brave because it took me a while to think of something I haven't at least "tried" before...maybe with horrible results, but I tried! But recently I was visiting someone elses blog and saw this amazing step card. Okay, I'm pretty sure it was on one of my DT sisters' blogs but, of course, now I can't find it to give them credit. I always wanted to tackle a step card so that is what I decided to be "brave" about this time!

 I took SO many photos of it because it looks so different from different angles and because I went overboard with the details and bling...I know. My theme song is supposed to be "Simplify, Simplify" but I'm not doing so well with that one!

I really like the verse that Candace chose. In our world today there seems to be so much to fear. There is so much evil, so much hatred, and greed, and power-hungry people. We can often get discouraged but as Christians we MUST remember that the victory is already won and it is already ours in Christ.

"The victory's won, the battle is o're...Allelujah!"

Thanks for that wonderful reminder, Candace!

                                    

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to put a sentiment on the "inside" or not but I did. THAT I kept simple!

My list of ingredients:

Cardstock is Cryogen (sparkly off-white)*

Designer Papers are from Paper Studio

Stamps: Hero Arts, PSX, Just Rite

Inks: Studio G, Vivid!, Stampabilities

Flowers & Leaves: EK Success, Spellbinders (Bauble Blossoms 2, Foliage)*

Die cut shapes: Spellbinders (Big Scallopped Circles Lg, Standard Circles Lg, Pendant- Fleur de Lis, Lables 4)*

Rhinestones are all Basics by Kaisercraft

* These items I purchased at www.stampingscrapping.com

Thanks for your pateince with this long post! I hope you get a chance to stop over at SSiC and check out all of my DT sisters cards too! AND enter your own card that shows what YOU are not afraid to tackle!

Have a very blessed week!

Different Birthday Balloons

This b-day card is for my son-in-law David who is having a birthday this Saturday. Most of the items used to make this one are things from my stash. The 2 stamps, the balloon and the sentiment, are just "dollar" stamps I picked up at Michael's. But I really like the hot air balloon, especially for a guy's card. The unusual color combination is for a challenge I am entering this one in: http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ -

"Color Combo- Orange, Blue, Whites and a Bit of Brown"

I am also participating in 2 other challenges:

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ - #68 "Birthday Balloon Bonanza"

http://dutchcardlovers.blogspot.com/ - #139 "Sketch by Angele"

Sketch 139 - DCL

WordArt Wednesday Challenge

Tonight I am posting a Bible-verse card for the challenge at WordArt Wednesday...getting it in just "under the wire"! The challenge closes in less than 2 hours! This week the free Bible verse "wordart" is II Timothy 1:7 which is another wonderful verse (!) so I used it on my card. It is too late at night to list the "ingredients" I used but I'd be glad to answer any questions about this card.

If you'd like to see some of the other cards entered in this challenge as well as the lovely samples made by their design team, please stop over at http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/ and check out "Challenge #28- 2 Timothy 1:7"

SSiC Many-Layered Card

Hello again, Friends!

This weeks challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is to use multiple layers, build up your layers..."stack" 'em up! I counted and I think I have at least nine layers! This card took me quite a while to make...and I really had to think it through before I did it. I raised up some of the layers on Pop-dots or foam squares so it really has more demension than some of my cards. The top layer is about 1/2 inch off the base paper.

Our hostess this week is Traci and the scripture verse she chose was Ephesians 4:29.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

What a great reminder for all of us to be careful about what we say. Our speech is to express what is in our hearts. Our desire should be to edify others, not harm or tear down or offend. We should especially not want to offend our Lord with foul talk or slander or lies. Instead, our goal should be to build others up!

Just imagine if we all did that all the time! The body of Christ would be strengthened and God would be glorified! Thanks, Traci, for the reminder and inspiration!

(Partial) List of ingredients:

Spellbinders dies: Big Scalloped Circles Large*, Anglaise Lace Circles*

Flowers: small, SSD*; large, handmade by Karen Stark

DP: The Paper Studio, Cryogen*, and "stash"

Flatback pearls: Pizzazz Aplenty, ivory 5mm

Stamps: Tilda- Magnolia "Won't You Be My Valentine"*, fence- StampCraft,

butterfly- SSD*, "Tab Basics 1" set*

(all are colored with colored pencils)

Edge distressing with Tim Holtz blender tool*

All of the *'d items I got at www.StampingScrapping.com

And here are the other challenges I am entering this card in:

http://dutchmagnolialovers.blogspot.com/ - #32 "Purple, Green, Orange/Yellow, or Brown and a Butterfly"

http://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com/ - #52 "Bingo Challenge"

(I chose bling, pearls, orange, butterfly, star...the leaves)

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/ - #241 "Sketch"

Well, thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a lovely Sunday! God bless you all!

Hello Stephanie! In Person!!

For those of you familiar with http://www.stampingscrapping.com/ online craft store, and Kevin & Cindy Echtinaw, its owners, you may also have heard of Stephanie Hester who is Cindy's design team coordinator for http://stampingscrappingchallengecentral.blogspot.com/ . I have chatted online a bit with Stephanie and we often leave comments on each others' creations but I had never really met her...until yesterday! She is "up" here (from Missouri) visiting Kevin & Cindy for a few days. They stopped at my house to pick up Kevin's birthday card and gift (the usual...fudge) so I could meet Stephanie! What fun to actually meet in person! What a sweet lady! Cindy insisted on a picture AND that I post it. So here it is, but I must admit, every time I see a picture of ME lately, my first thought is, "Who IS that old woman?"  Oh well. I'm healthy, happy and blessed far beyond what I deserve!



Me, Cindy, Steph        "Welcome to Michigan, Stephanie!"

And as long as I'm posting here is Kevin's B-day card too. Cindy had emailed old pictures of Kevin to her group about a month ago letting everyone know this was his 50th b-day. I knew I wanted to use some of them on a card for him...so I did!



(inside)



Doodle Pantry Digis

Hello Friends! Today my post is featuring my DT card made for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge blog. This week the challenge (#139) is: use an animal, bird or bug in your design!

The sponsor is Doodle Pantry who is offering three free digital images as the prize. They have adorable images as well as beautiful (and cute!) sentiments! I chose the ants because...well, I just couldn't resist! There is even an image of a whole marching ant band! You can check them out at http://doodlepantry.com/ . 

But please stop by the SSiC blog to see more sample from my design teammates at http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ too!!

"Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that

moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive."  Genesis 6:20

Our hostess for this challenge is Peggysue and she chose the verse from Genesis which is part of the account of the building of Noah's Ark. I peeked at the other cards that the DT has made and there is a wonderful variety!

I don't have much of a list of ingredients this time! Almost everything is just "from my stash" except the digital images from Doodle Pantry and the little black flatback rhinestones which are from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful MOMS out there!

A Card of Encouragement

Today I am posting another card for a man, this time a "Thinking of You" card for a gentleman that was just diagnosed with cancer. I didn't want to just send a glib "Get Well Soon" because this will be a long battle and I wanted him to know that we will be praying along with his family all the way through. But more importantly, that God will be with him every step of the way.

Here is my list of items used to make this card:

"Thinking of You" & "trees" stamps - Stampin' Up

Fancy frame/label stamp - Stamping Scrapping Design "Holidays"*

Inks: Brown - Vivid, Green - Memento*

Die cut - Spellbinders "Pendants, Fleur de Lis"*

White cardstock is Cryogen* colored DP, from my stash

Ranger Stickles, "Star Dust"*

Olive Green Rhinestones - Pizzazz Aplenty

* All of the starred items can be found at www.stampingscrapping.com

The sentiment and Bible verse on the inside are computer generated.

I like to try to put a tiny bit of matching bling on the inside of the card too, just so it doesn't make the card too thick. I have found that if the card is just a little thicker than normal and I write

"Hand Cancel" on it, the Post Office only charges me an extra 20 cents to mail it. But if it is also heavier than normal that is another extra fee. But after all the work I put into these I feel its worth it!

This card I am also entering in 2 challenges:

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ - #67 "A Male Themed Card"

http://stampingscrappingchallengecentral.blogspot.com/ - "Something Masculine"

A Get Well Card for a Man

Today I had a little time to spend in my craft room so I made this card for an older man in my church that has had some health issues and is recovering very, very slowly. I wanted to create a card suitable for a man using kraft, yellow and white. It’s a real challenge for me to not put frills, lace and flowers on a card. But I think this works! What do YOU think?

The ingredients:

Kraft and solid yellow cardstock – from my stash

Yellow print cardstock – DCWV “Indian Summer”

Dies – Spellbinders, Standard Circles Lg*

Stamps – “Get Well”, Stampabilities

            ‘Thinking of you’ & decorative circle etc., “Lacey Circles”*

                        by Stamping Scrapping Designs

            (inside) sentiment, Annette Watkins

                        and Bible verse, My Heart Stamps for You

Glass drops – Twinkle Jewels, Stamping Scrapping Design*

I also used my Tim Holtz blending tool and some kraft color ink to edge several pieces.

 *'d items are from my favorite craft supply store: www.stampingscrapping.com

The 2 challenges being entered are:

http://dutchcardlovers.blogspot.com/ - #137 “Sketch”

http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ – “Kraft, Yellow & White”



Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are having a wonderful week!

May God bless you!

My First DT Card for SSiC!

Today I am posting my very first card as a Designer for Stampin’ Sisters in Christ!! The Design Team has 12 ladies on it…6 of us are “newbies”…and it is a great group of godly gals! (hmmmm…”Godly Gals”…a new nickname?) Anyway, I consider it quite an honor to be selected to be on this DT. I hope I can inspire others to participate in our challenges!

So here is my first official DT card:

The theme that Miesje, our hostess this week, chose for this challenge is to use something real or natural, such as sand, burlap, twine, twigs, shells, etc. and the Bible text that inspired this challenge is I John 2:4-6.

Please check out the challenge yourself at http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com/ and join us!

You can also visit the blogs of all my new "sisters"! Just click on their names in my sidebar!

The ingredients for my card are as follows:

Solid cardstock is from my stash

Print cardstock is from FlairDesignsInc.com – “Hearts on Fire”

Sentiment is a digital stamp from Doodle Pantry

Die cuts are Spellbinders – “Fleur de Lis Accents” & “Labels 15” & “Labels 4”

Flatback pearls are Pizzazz Aplenty – “4mm Chocolate”

Dried flowers are from my stash (I dry lots of different flowers to see which ones hold their color the best and “look” nice when dried!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please let me know what you think of this, my first DT card! (Can you tell I’m excited?!)

Flowers With Sympathy

This card is for a couple from my church whose mom passed away this week. She was a Christian lady so its sad but not really...if you know what I mean! She went "home"!

So I wanted the card to look lovely and spring-like, yet solemn.

 Here's the list of items I used to make this one:

Cardstock: K&Company - "Julianne" & DVWV -"Latte"

Lg Flower - StampingScrapping.com - "Color Me, white"

Sentiment stamp - borrowed from a friend!

Stamped flowers - Magnolia Stamps -"Marine Flower"

Twine - StampingScrapping.com - "Vintage Green"

Pop-up foam squares - Stix 2 Anything

Flatback Pearls - Pizzazz Aplenty - 4mm Ivory

 Challenges being entered:

http://magnoliastamplovers.blogspot.com/ - "Stitching"

http://dutchmagnolialovers.blogspot.com/ - "NO Tilda or Edwin"

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/ - #239 "Sketch"

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

God bless!

My BIG News Today!

I'm very excited to be able to announce today that I have been selected to serve on a Design Team for the amazing challenge blog called Stampin' Sisters in Christ!!! It is a wonderful group of ladies who all love the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to promote His glory and His gospel with their whole lives...but especially with their creative crafting abilities.  I'm just getting to know them and already these new "sisters" of mine have become dear to me. They challenge me and inspire me to be the woman God wants me to be!

I will be putting their blog information on my sidebar...as soon as I figure out how to do that...LOL!

For now, please go check out the SSiC blog and see my new "sisters" and the amazing creative stuff they do!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ was started by 2 biological sisters a few years ago and has evolved into the beautiful blog it is now through the patience and hard work of several people. One of the founders is Kris and she is the DT leader as well. She does an excellent job of organizing, posting, and inspiring!!

Please stay tuned for updates on this new endevour I've embarked on! Its bound to be a wonderful, challenging experience. To God be the glory!

Here is the list of DT members and their blogs if you'd like to check them out:
(the first 6 are the current DT members and the next 6 are us "newbies")
Kris- Ink Something 2
Linda- Lovely Linda's Craft Central
Marilynn- Mississippi McGyver
Miesje- Craft Room with a View
Peggysue- Roses by My Window
Traci- Major Moments
Candace- Creatively Candace
Diane- Diane's Designs
Helen- Creative Jeans
Jerusha- I Love Paper Crafting
Michelle- My Papered Cottage
me- You're HERE