Monday 29 November 2010

Scripture Challenge - Help

It's so interesting that this is the Scripture Challenge word at this time! Since God has His hand in this...I'm going to go ahead and open up to you here. I can't tell you how many times I've cried out for help in the last few months. Some of you already know that I've been having some struggles with pain lately. Now pain is not a new thing to me but it had been under control for a number of years. Something has changed recently and the control is GONE! So I'm going through a period of "readjustment"! lol Now...I want you to understand that I'm not talking about this because I want anyone to feel sorry for me or anything like that, okay? Believe me when I say my life is VERY GOOD! However, my pain is extreme and frequent right now and I am often asked how I manage to do the things I do. I want to share that with you now. When my first conscious thought of the day is HELP! at 3:00 a.m. because the migraine has woken me...the Lord is the one who hears my cry! He is gracious and loving and He alone can give me the strength to get through the day! He brings me JOY in the midst of the pain! He has gifted me with the most LOVING and husband a girl could have and two very entertaining daughters who always bring me lots of LAUGHTER! He has also sent me so many wonderful friends, who bring me ENCOURAGEMENT through lovely visits to my blog and wonderful emails! He is my God; He will strengthen me and help me; and I will carry on, one day at a time! If you're going through a tough time and need some help, consider calling on the Lord! I know I couldn't do it without Him! :o)
Papers: Papermania-Summer Bloom-Gift from Sarah,
Flowers: Pink- Gift from Sarah,
               Blue - The Nickel Nook,
Leaves: Prima,
Slice Design Card: Noteworthy,
Pearls: Crystal Stickers,
Tag: Making Memories Sweets - Funky Vintage,
Pen: Marvy Le Plume II No. 58 peacock green.

Friday 26 November 2010

Playing in Paradise Sketch Challenge #02

To some of you the colors and theme of this layout may look a little bit familiar. I did a similar one back in October for my first sketch challenge. Would you believe that shop still hasn't announced a winner?! So I've moved on to a new one! lol Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog has a monthly sketch challenge. You can find the details HERE For this one I decided to make the companion page to the last layout. I couldn't do the exact sketch since I only had these two pictures to work with, but I hope it's close enough! I've discovered that I really enjoy working from a sketch. I have a few days left so maybe I'll even get to the card sketch yet...yes, I said another card! :o)


Thursday 25 November 2010

52 Week Scrapbook Challenge - Flourishes

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! I hope you're all having a wonderful time of celebration! In Canada, we had our official Thanksgiving holiday in October. However, for me personally, EVERY day is one of gratitude and thankfulness, and I am celebrating right along with you! So in honor of today, I chose this picture of my "Miracle Angel" for my challenge this week. Each and every day, we are surrounded by miracles, and that's something I'm very thankful for! This is a little angel doll that I designed a few years ago. I didn't go too crazy with my flourishes. I used my Stampin' Up Baroque Border wheel to fill my page with flourishes for the background. Then I took three raw chipboard pieces, inked them in black and used several coats of UTEE on them. Then I added some bead flourishes. That's about all I had room for. I framed my photo with the same lace I used to trim the angel's dress, and added the beads on top. Then I added some flowers I made. Just so you know...I thank God daily for all of you...MY DEAR FRIENDS!! :o)

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Sarah's Cards

My dear friend Sarah makes so many lovely things! She's inspired me to make quite a few of them myself! She recently made a really cute butterfly card. I had asked her how she did it and she was sweet enough to show me exactly how in a wonderful YouTube tutorial. You can find the video HERE and you can find Sarah's lovely Blog HERE. I didn't have that wonderful butterfly punch, so I used my Slice to cut out my butterfly shape. Using the Slice opens it up to all kinds of possibilities! I meant to have this card up a few days ago, so since it took me so long...I have two cards to show you! They are so much fun to make! Thanks again Sarah! :o)
Inside of cards read as follows:
 Happiness...is my wish for you!
Hope...your day is filled with JOY!


Friday 19 November 2010

I DID IT!!

Yes, I really did it!! I made a card! I saw it on a blog and I kind of copied it...kind of! lol I didn't have any of the things she had so that's why it's only "kind of" copied! I don't own any of those fantastic Spellbinder dies...which I love and are so gorgeous on cards. So I cut a scalloped circle with my Slice and then used my Big Bite to punch holes in it. I also don't have any of those gorgeous pearly flourishes. However, I did just pick up some long strips in a clearance bin. So I cut them all apart and tried to arrange them appropriately. I'm not that happy with all of them...but I'll get better with practice, right? Tomorrow I hope to make another card in honor of  my friend Sarah. She did a tutorial for me so I know just what to do...I hope! haha :o)
Papers:Basic Grey Jovial Collection, Recollection Cardstock;
Slice & Slice Design Card Basics 1; Cropodile Big Bite;
Bling: Kaisercraft; Stamp: Imaginisce;
Ink: Martha Stewart; Unknown Seam Binding.

52 Week Scrapbook Challenge - Make a Grid of 9 Squares

I spent some time pondering what I was going to do for this particular challenge. Then yesterday we had quite a blizzard blow through! This morning it was -24 Celcius! For those of you that deal with Fahrenheit...lets just say that it's cold and leave it at that! lol I didn't even bother to look into the windchill because I'm not going anywhere! Anyways...the weather situation helped me decide what I wanted to use for my challenge. These pictures were taken in my neighbor's garden. She has moved into the Nursing Home now, and her house has sold. So this page is a lovely memory of a wonderful neighbor! :o)
Photos were taken a few years ago before I got my nice camera!

Thursday 18 November 2010

Scripture Challenge - Assurance

What comes  to your mind when you hear the word "ASSURANCE"? What immediately comes to my mind is the wonderful old hymn written by Fanny Crosby called "Blessed Assurance"! I've been singing it ever since Patter gave us our latest Scripture word! I love that hymn! It also brings special memories of my Dad to mind,  as all hymns do, and as I've shared previously with all of you. This was a song he sang often! I'd like to share the first verse of the song with you here. I just couldn't find room for it on my six inch page! It goes like this:

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long!

Well...this is my story! I have assurance that Jesus is mine. He has been since the day I accepted Him as my Saviour when I was very young. He has never let me down and He never will! 
He is always there for me!  
He promised...He is faithful...Guess what?
This can be your story too! :o)


Papers: Basic Grey - basics white 6X6 paper pad,
Stamp: Inkadinkadoo,
Fiskars Border Punch: Threading Water,
Embossing Powder: Stampendous Marcasite Opaque,
Ribbon: Offray,
Crocheted Flower: The Nickel Nook,
Decorative Pin: The Nickel Nook


Tuesday 16 November 2010

JOY Tags

It seems like it's been a while since I've had a new crafty post...although I know it hasn't been that long! I actually haven't done anything new in the last week. I found this picture in my files and thought I would share it with you. Just over a year ago I had come across an online crop challenge thingy! Yes, that was the official name of it! lol They had a challenge to use shipping tags and Tim Holtz Distress Inks to make a halloween tag. Well...those of you that follow my blog may have noticed that I don't "do" halloween! So I asked if I could do Christmas instead. It was no problem! So here are the tags I made. This was my a bunch of firsts for me. First time with shipping tags, distress inks, masks, & distress crackle paint.  Hopefully I'll be back to new work in a day or two! :o)

Thursday 11 November 2010

My Wintery Wonderland

These pictures were actually taken two days ago. Shortly after I took them the sun did peep out for a bit and it was GORGEOUS!! All the snow came off the trees right away then, of course! These pictures show how heavy and wet the snow was...the kind of slushy snow that makes your feet wet ALL DAY!! Unless your smart and stay inside crafting where it's dry and warm! :o)

My favorite tree was so sad!

Monday 8 November 2010

52 Week Scrapbook Challenge - 3, 5 or 7 Chipboard Frames

Well...I managed to fit 5 chipboard frames on my 8" page! I used my Sizzix "Frame, Heart" die. I just love these pictures of my little girls! Can you believe these pictures are twenty years old? I can't! lol I'm going to be together with BOTH of my "babies" next weekend. I'll take some updated photos and prove to you that they're all grown up! :o)

Tuesday 2 November 2010

52 Week Scrapbook Challenge - Stamped Borders

I used three different Stampin' Up stamps to create my border; a vine, a flower and a vase stamp turned sideways. I didn't have a picture in mind at first but decided I would use this one with the bird on the birdhouse. My husband always says the same thing when he sees this picture..."too bad the greenhouse looks so ugly!" So when I showed him I was using this picture, guess what he said? lol So I thought I would try to hide some of it for him. I inked some vines from a new Sizzix die and adhered them around the photo. So now that I have made you all look closely at the greenhouse...have I disguised it well enough? :o)

Birds are most welcome in my yard and I'm always happy to see a little chickadee!

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