Trusting In The Lord For All Things

Doing My Duty, MY Duty Is Done

2012-02-07T21:56:00.001-05:00

Well today is my first day of jury duty in Parma. I'm thankful that I didn't have to go to downtown Cleveland. This should be an interesting time. I'm supposed to be on jury duty today through Friday. We'll see what happens. I keep seeing these cute images and laugh at them so I share them with you.

Well I'm done with jury duty. I went this morning and after about an hour, we were told by the judges that all of the cases had been resolved without a trial. There were no more trials for the rest of the week. YES! I was pretty happy. I didn't want to miss an important meeting tomorrow. I have so many lesson plans done that it should be easy to come back. I planned to be out all week, so I had some plans for next week as well. God is so good!

In a few weeks I'll be going to the Chonda Pierce and Natalie Grant concert at Grace Church. Listen to Natalie Grant's song, I am Stronger.

Time to spend time with my family. :)
Blessings,

God is Faithful Even When I'm Not

2012-02-05T14:23:00.003-05:00

So I'm having a horrible, no good, very bad day today..........sigh......can't go into details but it's been a tough day. I was working at my crafting table and heard this song over the radio and it's the first ray of sunshine in my day. Thank you God! I sure needed it. Listen to Jeremy Camp sing, Overcome.

I made for the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers this morning. It's been so long since I've been able to play a challenge. I used the new SU heart dielits to cut the different sizes of hearts. The flower set is new and it's called Bordering on Romance. I love the gold embossing powder around the edge. The flowers are colored on watercolor paper, which were wet, using mark

This morning, I did the Featured Stamper challenge. I made a tea bag holder. Heidi Baks is the one who I CASED this from. Here was my inspiration.

Here's my tea bag holder box.

Today is a far better day than yesterday. God is so faithful with his mercy and grace. I'm so glad I have him to help me in good times and bad.

Thank you for stopping by today. Not sure what I'll be doing for the Super Bowl tonight, but I'm guessing it will be what God wants.

Bless you for stopping by.

Mondays.....Ya gotta love them!

2012-01-31T18:40:00.000-05:00

I've been collecting these cute pictures and keep forgetting to show you. Check these out.

I'm going to have to remember this, how about you?

I received a beautiful gift of cards for the nursing home from Charlene known as crystaldolphins on Splitcoast Stamper.

Check out these gorgeous cards. She is a designer for Squigglefly.

Shes's such a talented and caring lady. Thank you so much Charlene for your beautiful contribution to the nursing home. May God richly bless you for your love and kindness.

How about a video before I close?

If you need a laugh today check this out. Lots of babies laughing and smiling.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Look What I Found!

2012-01-29T17:48:00.000-05:00

I found the most scrumcious candy last Sunday at Target. Raspberry M&M's! Oh my, are they wonderful! If you're a chocolate and raspberry lover these are for you! I found them at Target in the candy section with the other M&M's. If you're a coffee lover, add that to this treat and you'll be in heaven!

I had some fun this week making some gifts for a baby shower I went to Saturday. Here are the gifts.

This is a baby brag book. Katie is having a little girl, obviously.

This is a favor that was filled with trail mix.

This was a box of 8 thank you cards.

The kids and I were having fun when I got my new phone, taking pictures. Ben stuck his foot on my desk and showed me his stinky feet....................I guess someone needs to get him new socks. Poor child doesn't have any socks that aren't thread bare! LOL

Here's Ben, cute kid that he is.

Then I switched to Sarah to take her picture and she hid.

I remember when she was little she'd cover her face like this and say, "You can't see me!"

She was invisible when she couldn't see us. What fun times.

I've had a terribly busy week getting report cards input, then completimg progress reports printing them out and putting them into envelopes. This goes on into this week as I have to get Conference reports done and an IEP(state report education plan) reading for conference night Thursday.

I can't believe that this is the last week of January and we'll be into February Wednesday.

Thanks for visiting,

Blessings,

It's Been a Flurry of Activity the Past 10 Days

2012-01-22T21:46:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I touched base here. I have been in the middle of a flurry of activity. Last week I had to get my gradebook totaled for report cards. I entered report cards online. I am testing to fill in education plan progress reports, got a new student started in my room, cut paper for 175 cards for Card Ministry, and kept up with hubby and family.
I have some cards that I've made lately.
This is a box I made to show my stampers how easy it was to make a snowman, then change the box to a Valentine, or for any other occasion like a Baby Shower.

This is what I've been up to the last few weeks. Some are cards for card ministry and others are cards I put together from pieces parts I had. Sometimes when I go to friend's houses I stamp images they have or use embossing folders and never get a card made. So I come home and place these pieces into a drawer to be worked on later. Well, last weekend was my time to do that. I was sick with a bad cold so I had pj days and made some cards.

I saw a darling video on Dawn's blog. Here it is.

Thanks for checking up on me.

Blessings,

Crazy Cat Sam and a Raised Frame

2012-01-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

I have a crazy cat named Sam. He's had a few too many brushes with death and we think they took most of his brain cells. He is very different than he used to be. Here is a picture of Sam on my craft tables rubbing against my leather wallet...........

He eventually fell asleep on this pillow. LOL

I used a technique called raised frame to make this card. It was so cool to make. I used the SU stamp called Elizabeth. It's such a wonderful Victorian stamp.

I have come into a busy time again so I hope to put together some cards in between work, work, work.

Thanks for stopping by,

Blessings,

Changes and Simple Woman

2012-01-11T19:45:00.002-05:00

Here's something fun I saw on a friend's FB page.

I got a good chuckle out of this!

Haven't done one of these in a while so here goes.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY :January 8th, 2012

Outside My Window...all of the Christmas lights are gone. We had nice weather to day so everyone was busy taking down lights...so depressing....I love lights.

I am thinking...I need to clean up my craft room and get to sleep.

I am thankful for...Jane's help today on the Card Ministry cards and for Tim for making dinner.

From the kitchen...all is quiet as the teens have finished their 5th meal and retired for the evening.

I am wearing...a t-shirt and sweats....so comfy.

I am creating...cards for me tomorrow.

I am going...to the Chonda Pierce and Natalie Grant Concert at our church March 16th.

I am reading...Christmas at Sugarcreek.
I am hoping...this nice weather stays as long as possible. It's January 8th and we haven't used the snowblower yet.
I am hearing... beautiful instrumental music from Michael W. Smith.
Around the house...all is quiet except for the ticking of the old mantel clock.

One of my favorite things... Laughing and having fun with my kids.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Have to finish grades, cards for card ministry, Alternate Assessment forms, and have some time to read and stamp.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... Enjoy them while they are still living at home. For after they leave, it's never the same.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Cards From Today and Through the Week

2012-01-07T23:13:00.001-05:00

I had lots of help from my friend Jane to make cards for Card Ministry this Friday. What a blessing Jane is. She helped me design 9 cards and cut out the paper for 8 of the 9 cards.
It enabled me to be able to play the SCS Inspiration challenge.
Here's my card and my inspiration.

I also got to finish another card except for the words. I'm not sure what I want to use this card for so I've left it blank. This is another image from Jane's stamp and cut set she brought over last weekend. Can you imagine cutting out those swirls by hand?

It was so easy to stamp, run it through the cuttlebug to cut it out. Amazing what the crafting world is doing to make this hobby easier and quicker to do. sometimes it's overwhelming all that is out there in the stamping world isn't it?

Well, it's time to get things organized and get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day!

Thank you for stopping by. I love something Sue Berker

does on her blog. She posts a blessing of the day. I hope you don't mind if I do this Sue.

Blessings of the Day:

Jane helped me get ready for Card Ministry

Tim made dinner tonight.

The kids were in good moods tonight.

I resisted chocolate when it was right in front of me.

Thanks for stopping by. I love it when you visit.

Blessings,

Wednesday Quilting To Be Shown

2012-01-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

A friend sent this to me and I wanted to share it with you.
Isaiah 43:16 and 18-19
This is what the Lord says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Thoughts on today's verse The year is gone, finished, past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. We cannot rest on the things it has brought us. If tomorrow dawns, it will be another day, a new opportunity, and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment. Prayer: Lord of all eternity, please help me to learn from my mistakes but not dwell on them. Please help me not rest on my accomplishments in this past year, but use them to further your work in me and through me. Please help me not quarrel with those who injured me yesterday, or last month. Instead, O Father, lead me in your paths and help me see your mighty works this next year. In Jesus name and by his power I ask it. Amen.
Thanks Karen.
I also wanted to share some other quilting card I made with a friend. I am going to give a set to a good friend who is retiring who loves to quilt.

These were made with one inch strips from the Designer paper from Stampin' Up acalled Spice Cake. Love it!
Here's a video for you to listen to.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Blessings,

SU's New Occasions Mini is Here

2012-01-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

Today is the beginning of the new Stampin' Up Occasions Mini Catalog! Oh I have to tell you that I fell in love with so many of these items. Click on the picture on the right side of my blog to see what's in the new mini.

Today was back to work and it was okay. I had an inservice in the a.m. then back to school for the p.m.

I'm finishing paperwork and state testing reports. What a pain in the neck these things are. I worked on them at work then tonight. I'm tired so I'll try to get photos uploaded of the quilt cards I made Saturday night.

Blessings,

Happy New Year To All-Catching Up

2012-01-01T15:04:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that it's 2012 already! It seems the years go by faster and faster. I had a nice time last night with friends that I invited over. We had a nice dinner and talked, then made cards that I had designed and had fun making things after that. Here's what we made last night.

Here's another card we made.

Here are cards I've made but not uploaded. The patterns can be found in the quilting gallery on Splitcoast Stampers. These two are for the featured stamper on SCS.

This card was the the Free4All challenge Friday in which you had to make a dress. I paper pieced the dress on the right with designer paper.

This card was for Wednesday's sketch challenge.

Check out what I saw on my FB page today. It made me chuckle.

Happiest of New Years to you. May 2012 be filled with many blessings.

Happy New Years--Welcome 2012!

2011-12-31T23:04:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone.
I had a fun New Years Eve. I invited friends over to eat dinner, talk and stamp. It was so much fun. I purposely chose ladies who would be alone New Years Eve. It was a fun time. We ate, talked and laughed, then went to my craft room to make two cards that I had ready for them. A great time was had by all. They cracked me up, because by 9:00 they were saying they were tired and needed to get home. LOL
Can't party like they used to ya know?
Anyway I'm praying that my kids are safe where they are and that you have a wonderful 2012.

Happiest Of Birthdays Sweet Sarah Annie!

2011-12-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

Today is my sweet Sarah's 15th birthday. I can't believe my baby is 15! Where did THAT time go?!

15 years ago at 7:27 p.m. my Sarah Annie was born. She was 9 lbs. 13oz.! No kidding, that's the LAST time she was big! LOL Here are a few pictures of her.

Here are some pics from our gift giving time. The first picture she's looking and reacting to something her dad said to her.

She's showing me her sparkly heart ring. She's beginning to wear more rings like I do. I have 4 I wear. She now has 4. I told her I used to wear 4 on each hand. I know, how could I ever have been young? LOL

Here are a few pictures of our cat Sam. Sam has more scraps with death than any cat I know. We're sure he's on his 11th life! Ya know the saying that cats have 9 lives, well Sam must have God on his side!Look at his new trick.
First he has to see how far his head will go into the glass.

Then you position yourself to drink.....you should have seen that tongue lap up that water! He's not allowed to do this but now we know what has happened to water glasses that have been left on the kitchen table! LOL

I found a great song sung in an unusual way....one man singing four parts in a barbershop quartet. Take a
listen.

Thanks for stopping by. Have to get ready for ladies coming to stamp tomorrow night.
Blessings,

Favorites of 2011

2011-12-29T12:45:00.003-05:00

Today I spent some time going through my blog to find my top 10 favorite cards/projects. I've seen others do this. I have to tell you I had a hard time doing this. So here we go:

Favorites of 2011
#10 Sunday, March 13, 2011

Friday, Jan. 28th 2011

#8
Thursday. Oct. 20th, 2011

#7

Saturday, Sept. 17th, 2011

#6

Saturday, Sept. 17th, 2011

#5

Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011

#4
Friday, july 1, 2011

Saturday, Aug. 6th, 2011

#2
Sunday, December 4th, 2011

#1 All Time Favorite Card of 2011......drum roll please!

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

Thanks for stopping by. It's always wonderful to hear from you. Bless you for stopping by today.

Card Challenges and Quilt Cards

2011-12-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

Today was PJ day until a friend called and wanted to come over! I was busy making cards for challenges on Splitcoast Stampers. Here they are:This first one was made for the color challenge today. Here's my card for Color Challenge 355 for Splitcoast Stampers using white, bashful blue and navy. I chose my Handstand Mouse from High Hopes Stamps for this challenge. I stamped in black ink then colored with copics. I sponged the border in bashful blue then ran it through the cuttlebug. I loved the stitching look of the folder. I then used the heart border from Verve Stamps, Thankful Hearts.

I just got this cute set of High Hopes stamps called Three Pane Easter. I thought there's got to be more than Easter to use this for. I made a baby card with it for today's challenge I put them behind the window like they are waiting for the new baby to arrive. I used my large window die, and a Baby border embossing folder. I added a regal rose bow at the top to draw your eye to the text.

Check out Karen's card here which was made of 1" squares cut in half.http://karenbarberstamps.blogspot.co...chin-time.html Mine is 3/4" squares cut in half. I used calypso coral paper for the background. Lucky limeade and pool party and vanilla papers were used as well. The designer paper is for SAB in late Jan. called Everyday Enchantment. I used the new edgelits with the embossing border which will be out in January from SU. I pieced the quilt square like Karen suggested using the SU grid paper. I also used the finial press embossing folder on the quilt piece itself.

Check out Julie's card here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...amp;si=quilted cards

I started CASING Karen Barber's card and checked out the quilted cards gallery and found Julie's card. It was fun to make this. May have to make a few more from that gallery! Thanks Julie. I've use Antique Boutique paper and brads. I also used the tiny SU silver brads on this card.

Well today we got huge snowflakes falling all over. Got several inches in no time at all. I like to look at it but don't like to drive in it. I love snow days too.

Tomorrow I hope to get some things done around the house. Having today to stamp was fun. That's what vacation is for right?

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Wonderful Christmas Day-Happy Birthday Jesus

2011-12-26T00:06:00.000-05:00

Today was a wonderful day. Tim and I made apple cinnamon muffins with real apple bits and enjoyed them warm as the kids were waking up. Sarah read the Christmas Story from the Bible, then Tim thanked God for all of our blessings including Jesus coming to earth to save us all.
Next it was time for presents. With the kids being older they knew many of their gifts. We all enjoyed the morning. After cleaning up the papers we watched our cat Sam play with a fake mouse which is attached to our coffee table. There is a bit of catnip left in it so it was fun to watch him then Annabelle knock Sam down with one jump! LOl
We watched some dvds today, had some lunch, then dinner, then The Muppet Christmas, which is a Christmas time favorite.
One thing I insist on is a family picture for Christmas. Here it is, Christmas 2011.

No cards today, but I finished my book by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer called, Christmas Treasures.
Merry Christmas to all of you.
Here's a Sweet version of Happy Birthday Jesus.

Blessings and thank you for stopping by.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.013-05:00

Merry Christmas to you and yours! The baby Jesus has been born of the virgin Mary and has become our King of Kings. To think He came to earth so that he could do for all of our sins. All of us, not just an assorted few. That to me is an incredible love that I can't even comprehend. Here is a picture from The Nativity Story. We never saw this at the theatre so we'll be watching it today.

Without Jesus we'd all be destined for Hell. I'm so thankful that He came from Heaven to save us all.

We will read our Bible about the Christmas Story then open presents, have some breakfast, then spend time doing what we want. Then we'll eat dinner and watch Christmas videos. I love a relaxing Christmas Day.

Thank you for visiting today.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve Drawing to a Close

2011-12-24T20:23:00.000-05:00

With Christmas Day upon us let us remember why we celebrate in the first place. I love this part of the Peanuts Movie where Linus tells the meaning of Christmas.

Today I had to exchage some things I'd bought online at Penney's and I feared going near the mall. I was pleasantly surprised. I breezed to the mall without the typical 20 minute crawl just to get there. Then I was able to park in the 12th spot from the door, could have had the second spot had I gone around to the next row. I walked right in had not line in the exchange area and I was done! It took longer to get there than it did to return the items. Thank you God.
I guess most people had their shopping finished already and were enjoying Christmas Eve.
I got in the festive spirit and painted my nails purple to go with my favorite sweater. I added silver half circles at the edge of my nails. That sure has done a lot to keep the polish from chipping.

Here are two cards I did for today's Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.

I got some new High Hopes Stamps today and just had to try them out for the challenge. This was stamped with black ink and colored with copic markers. I cut out the image with a scallop oval and lacy oval and sponged the edge of the image. I added scalloped brown ribbon from SU.

This is another sweet High Hopes image I got today. It is stamped in black ink then colored with copic markers. I embossed an oval around the brown oval. I used nestabilities to cut the image and brown ovals out. I added quilted blushing blossoms ribbon from SU.

We went to Christmas Eve service at our church. It was packed! I don't like it that way. Think of a huge church with many children and at the end of the service we light candles............fire hazard? Yikes we're lucky we've never had a problem.

Well, I've gotta get upstairs and wrap presents or the kids will be greatly disappointed. After all half of the fun is not knowing what it is then opening the gift.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Thanks for stopping by.

On The Third Day of Vacation Fake Monks and Videos To See.....

2011-12-23T17:59:00.000-05:00

I finally finished my Christmas cards and mailed them out in the rain last night. It's a nicer time to drop them off than to fight the people and traffic during the day. At any rate, my cards were mailed before Christmas.

I'm sure you've seen this funny video of high school kids doing this Hallelujah song, but thought it was fun enough to post here.

Here's another Christmas song that really struck home...thanks Meredith. It's called, How Many Kings

Here's the card that I made for today's free for all challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. You were to make a tri-fold card. I made a joy-fold card from the resources section of their site. I just love this little mouse from Sweet N Sassy.

This is one of my favorite songs....give a listen.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon by AtlanticRecords
One more sleep and it will be Christmas Eve. Are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready for the Great Sacrifice made for us that day?
Thanks for stopping by. God Bless You,

On The Second Day of Vacation A-Visiting We Went...Then Playing with a Digi

2011-12-22T07:41:00.037-05:00

Today was the day I went to my Mom's for the first time in a long time. I had hoped to talk to my brother but after telling me we were always welcome at holidays with them, he said he was busy and left the room. God held my tongue so I just sat with Ben and Sarah and talked to my mom. That visit was very nice. So I'm praising God for a new beginning with this relationship. I'm praying it will go where He wants it to go.
Here is a picture of of one of the gifts Sarah got for her birthday from a friend. Isn't this amazing? There are 9 decorated in detail cookies in this wooden basket.

Here is our crazy cat Sam. He's had many run-ins with health issues which have left him a bit wonky. He does things he's never done before. He's 10 years old and is the sweetest cat. He now likes to sit on the tables where I craft. I think his markings on his face are beautiful!

In this picture he looks like a lion roaring, however he was just yawning....what a fooler huh?

He's found a new shirt my husband brought home that is soft. He left it on the table and Sam immediately began to warm it! It beats sitting on a cold, hard table!

Here's the card I made with the free image from Sweet N Sassy stamps. Thank you Korin! Korin started something for memebers. On or near your birthday if you email her with your birthdate and the digi image you'd like, you get that image F-R-E-E, FREE! I did paper piecing on the cup sleeve with SU's new paper Antique Boutique which will be available in January. This is colored with Copic markers, paper pieced, then I added pearls to the cup. I think this is so cute!

Time to get my list and check it twice to see if I've got all I wanted to get for kids and DH.
Blessings to you. Thanks for your prayers and for stopping by.

On The First Day of Vacation a Card I Made for Me!

2011-12-21T18:55:00.002-05:00

Well, I made it to my first day of vacation. Hi Hope, I actually slept in late. I stayed up late watching Christmas shows. I love Christmas movies and books.
Here's a card I made today for yesterday's color challenge on SCS. The colors were wisteria, limeade and calypso coral. This is a new stamp set called Apothecary Art cut out with a new framelits die both will be in the new occasions mini catalog in January.

So Sarah's having her birthday early with her friends tonight. Her birthday is December 30th but a lot of friends will be traveling other places for Christmas. So right now we have 8 teenage girls giggling and eating pizza in the basement. I just love it! It reminds me of the sleep overs I had with friends and the fun memories we had as a result of them.

My Buddy Sam is sitting amidst the shoes, boots by the door. It was so cute I just had to get his picture.

He and I had lunch outside on the screened in porch today. It was 58 degrees here in Ohio and it was a bright, sunny day. It was too good to be true since today is the first day of Winter! Can you believe it?

Here is the Craig Family Christmas Photo. We take one each year. It's fun to see how things change. I've got to get some of the others out to compare them.

Tomorrow the kids and I will see my mom. It will be the first time in quite a while. I ask for prayers for this visit since it has the chance to be volatile.
Here's one of my favorite songs done by Manheim Steamroller.

Thanks for stopping by. Praise to the Father and Merry Christmas to you.

One More Day Until Christmas Vacation Hope!

2011-12-19T18:39:00.006-05:00

Here's a fun video to watch. The lights and video are syncronized...awesome!

I received the most beautiful cards today. Take a look. When I reduced the size of the image I forgot to take my watermark off so it shows up on the cards that I didn't make. I deleted the originals and couldn't find them. Sorry Patty and Debbi, I'm not trying to take credit for your beautiful creations.

Debbi's Card

Patty's Card

I can't wait to be on Christmas vacation. Then I"ll be able to see some friends and make cards other than Christmas cards.

Thanks for stopping by. I truly love it!

Blessings,

Christmas at the Craig's and a Family Tradition

2011-12-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

What a busy day I had, whew! Got up early to shop for gifts and necessities. Then stopped at the Library to drop off things. Upon returning home I made 4 gift card holders which I didn't photograph........in a hurry. Got Sarah to wrap presents then off to Craig Christmas. We pick up Tim's parents and drove to my nephew's condo. It's quite large and nice. This is his first home away from mom and dad. We had snow that stuck...ugh! I'm glad we picked up Tim's parents, otherwise they would have cancelled and not been at our Christmas. We always take a family photo so it will be a day or so until my SIL gets them to us.

We have had a tradition since we got married 18 years ago to stop at Bedford Square and walk through the lighted area and take pictures. Tonight since we were near we stopped. Here are some fun pictures. I'm going to have to see if I can find some pictures of past years. You can see that I'm the shortest in the family now huh? LOL This is the walkway into the square.

I love, love, love lights so this makes me feel like a little kid again!

So I think they should have given me a box to stand on ya know? LOL I never realized how tall my kids are compared to me. Pictures don't lie do they?

Tim and kids, I should have been a bit closer.

It was snowing with several inches on the ground, and poor baby Jesus was covered in snow. This is a close up. We couldn't get close enough to wipe off his face.

I have two more days of work then I'll be on Christmas Vacation. Then I can work on Christmas cards, and finish shopping and wrapping things. How are you doing on your shopping and wrapping. Thank you to many of you who have sent cards. I just got another pretty one today from Hope. Thank you so much Hope.

I got to listen to Michael W. Smith's new CD called, Glory. It is instrumental and I found I really liked it. Here is one of my favorite songs. I like the lightness and fun that the music seems to have.

Have a wonderful evening. Tomorrow night we'll be going to a concert and the admission is canned or boxed food. We'll be collecting the food and putting it in boxes to go to the City Mission. This should be a cool experience. I'll let you know.
I appreciate your visit. Soon I'll have more cards here and maybe even a new video or two.
Blessings,

It's Friday Again and I'm Ready For Christmas Vacation

2011-12-16T23:32:00.000-05:00

I know Hope doesn't want to hear this, but we've got two more days of school before we go on Christmas vacation. Sorry Hope. :)
Did you notice I wrote Christmas vacation not Holiday, or Winter Holiday. When did we lose Christmas? I'm not going to get all politically correct with you here, I'm pronouncing my Savior's birth which is Christmas.
I've received some beautiful Birthday and Christmas cards this week. I couldn't wait for you to see them. The first card is a handmade card from my dear friend, Jan.

The next card is from my partner at work, Patti. She even tried something new and stamped on the left instead of the right. I've got to try that Patti.

This next card is from my dear friend Val. She was my upline.

This last card is from Patti and Hope's sister, Rose. Thank you Rose, this is just beautiful! I love the details you've added especially the border and ribbon.

I've still got shopping to do. Maybe you do too. In fact I have to sit down and see what else I need to find for people.
Gotta get some sleep if I'm going to get out early tomorrow before the masses of people. LOL
Bless you for stopping by.

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday to Me

2011-12-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

I found a beautiful Birthday song that you could give to someone but instead of giving it away I'm putting it here.

We had a delightful evening together to celebrate my birthday. We went to Carrie Cerinos Italian Restaurant for dinner so I could get my lasagna. We came home and I opened presents then we had dessert. In our family you get to choose your birthday treat. I chose drumsticks ice cream cones.
I have a love of lighthouses so Tim got me a blue lighthouse shirt. Can't wait to wear it.

My life verses are Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your path straight.

Tim found a mug with that verse on it. What a sweetie.

How do you like the reddish hair? When the gal cut it so short last month I decided to put some red in my hair. Why not, you only live once!

Here is a card I made for a friend at work who just lost her dad this morning. He never woke up. Nikki, I'm praying for you and your family.

This is the inside where I used the new SU sizzelits dies and edge embossers. These will come out in the new occassions mini in January.

What a fun birthday! Thank you God for your grace and mercy each and every day. I thank all of you who wished me a happy birthday on FB.
Hope, thank you for your sweet idea. Hope said since I'm a twin, I get only HALF of the birthday years. LOL Makes me feel younger already!
Take care and thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

One More Sleep 'Til Birthday-and Pics of Concert

2011-12-12T20:08:00.000-05:00

It's one more sleep until my birthday that I share with my twin Anne. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has a tradition that's long standing. On our birthday she calls me early in the morning, we sing happy birthday to each other and chat for a bit, then send it each off with a cyber hug to enjoy our day. I wish she were closer, but we do what we can. I'm so thankful for you Annie.

I also finally got pictures of the concert that Sarah took. This first picture was during the meet and greet. Mandisa was wearing these cool, sparkly slippers. Unfortunately you can't see them.

Matthew West and Mandisa sang together and apart.

It was fun to what earrings Mandisa would wear. She wore very long earrings. Check out the red ones she's wearing.

Matthew west changed clothes a few times which was something I haven't seen a lot in male concerts. He was just wonderful to listen to, pray with and laugh with.

Here is Sarah and her friend Lindsey with Matthew West and Mandisa. These artists performed 2 1/2 hours then came out to sign autographs and take pictures with people. The concert ended at 10:30 so you can imagine how late they were there signing autographs. Both were wonderful Christians and fantastic people.

Sarah and her friend Lindsey. What beautiful girls we have.

Tomorrow I will celebrate another birthday. Not going to tell you which one, but it's come back around again so I might as well enjoy it! LOL

Have a great evening. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to have some cards soon to post.

Blessings,

A God Filled Night That Was So Incredible!

2011-12-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

Last night Sarah, her friend, Lindsey, me and my friend Emily all went to see Matthew West and Mandisa in their holiday tour.

I've never been to a more awesome concert before. First off, this church seated about 500 people. I got VIP tickets so we were in the third row from the front, right in the center. All of the VIP ticket holders got to have a meet and greet before the show.
Guess what? I got to ask Matthew West the first question! He even called me by name. So cool.
I asked him if he planned to make another CD with stories from around the country like he did for his last CD. He said, it's a little known fact that he IS going to do that again. He said he'll ask again in January to have your write your story and send it to him.

Last year he did this thinking he'd get maybe 200 or so responses. He got 10,000 letters! He took two months in a cabin in the woods to read the letters and finally write the songs for his CD from stories in the letters.
Sarah and Lindsey stood in the line to get their picture taken with both artists and got their autographs. I will post that probably tomorrow when I can get ahold of them. Matthew West is such a goofball. He is an ordinary guy with highs and lows like the rest of us. He has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.
Mandisa is a wonderful compliment to Matthew West. She is full of energy, humor and loves to dance. The performances were amazing. They did separate songs with their own bands, then did several songs together. There were sing alongs and also some serious cry out to God time. It's so good to get past all the masks that we wear and get real with God. Many tears, but very worthwhile.
Here are a few pictures taken in our meet and greet.

Here's a song from Matthew West's Christmas album. It's a song about the day AFTER Christmas.

The Light of the World is STILL here...............love that line in the song.
Here are a few cards I got for my birthday which is Tuesday. I also got a Christmas card.

Well, it's time for sleep and clean up of my stamping area. Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Josh Groban Singing O Holy Night For Hope

2011-12-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

Hope this is for you.........

I hope you enjoyed this classic song by Josh. I saw him in Cleveland and he was just incredible even if he is young enough to be my son! LOL
Blessings,

Boy It Sure Has Been A Long TIme Since I Did Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-12-06T21:33:00.000-05:00

Should I say that my simple life has gone away? Ha-ha, I'd like to meet a woman with a simple life wouldn't you? I'm going to try to fill this in so you know what this simple woman is doing.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY-I got my iep's corrected, my clothes washed and out of the dryer, papers graded and in the gradebook, progress reports finished and copied, and some lesson plans done as well. At home I made a card, and uploaded it to my gallery and my blog! Then I made 6 wreaths filled with M&M's to sell at work. A good day huh?

Outside My Window...it is dark, and rainy. I'd rather have rain than snow any day!

I am thinking...that I have a lot of energy for this time of night! LOL

I am thankful for...my husband and the marriage class we're taking on Sundays.

From the kitchen...I can hear sounds of people eating left over pie with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. (We celebrated our Thanksgiving this past Sunday.)

I am wearing...my work clothes. I rarely change when I get home.

I am creating...tin wreaths to which I added m&ms to sell at work. A woman requested them.

I am going...to go to sleep early, get up on time, get to work early, and leave on time tomorrow. I won't stay late!

I am reading...Longing by Karen Kingsbury.

I am hoping...to get my craft area cleaned up and organized for more than one day. LOL

I am hearing...tv in the next room. Dad and son are bonding over a basketball game. :)

Around the house...it is quiet with the exception of the cat meowing announcing that it is time to go to sleep.

One of my favorite things...a cup of hazelnut coffee in front of the ocean. I took some video in N.C. so when I want to pretend I'm there, I close my eyes while I drink by coffee and listen to the ocen.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:Get my work done and leave it at work, go out to eat tomorrow, play with the NEW SU stuff when it's delivered tomorrow!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...Nothing replaces the beauty that God has given us in a sunset or a rainbow. This is a sunset in N.C.

Thanks for stopping by to check out some of my thoughts. Bless you,

Got Some Great News!

2011-12-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

Today I got some great news. Our special education dept. in Parma will have the state education dept. visit to look at our IEPs, on my birthday, December 13th. Our supervisors went through our IEPs with a fine tooth comb. Most of these documents are 16 pages or so in length. The state continues to change what we need to say and HOW we need to say it......They keep changing the paperwork instead of letting us do the job we were hired to do! Makes me crazy! They should have to come here and do all of the paperwork we have to do AND try to be on committees, go to meetings, grade papers, do progress reports, test students several times a week, teach children, do alternate assessments, make lesson plans and have a life outside of work!
I only had a few minor things to correct. That was my great news. So tonight I fixed what was needed. I hope it's okay.
Tonight I also got to make a card for the color challenge on SCS--the colors were vanilla, red and wasabi. See what you think. OOOPS...I forgot to use vanilla instead I used white......

This is a card that I made using Jane's ho-ho-ho stamp. Cute huh? I don't know what company it's from. Here is my card for todays color challenge. I even had dessert! I stamped my ho-ho-ho image then I colored the candy with red marker then colored over it with sakura gel pen. I put a silver layer behind the image and then the red image. I added this cute ribbon to the top. while the ribbon isn't exactly wasabi, I hope I can squeak the use of it into the challenge today! I added the snowflake background using an embossing folder.

Do you have a favorite Christmas song?

I love this version of Drummer Boy with the drums they used. Reminds me of pep rallies, football games and good times. It now reminds me of the Greatest Love of all, Christ coming to earth to save us.

Take a Listen.....

Lord, I pray that I may be a shining light for you and that you will lead me where you'd have me to be. I know I am sometimes more willing to do MY will than YOURS. Please help my will to become yours. Thank you Abba, Father for your incredible and unconditional love.
Your daughter,

2011-12-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

Today was another rainy day here in the Cleveland area. Right now we have flood warnings until tomorrow some time. I'm glad we live up high. We had enough water issues while we were in Parma. Our house had a sump pump. It worked well and when there was power. However when the power went out and it rained it wasn't so good.
This morning early, I made this cute wreath for an SCS challenge. You had to use buttons. I made a wreath ornament and added buttons. Cute huh? I got a cute silver tin from the wedding section in Michaels then added the wreath which was cut from tear drop circle nesties together and added buttons and silver cord to hang this on the tree. Around the tin I put red tape adhesive and added some festive red ribbon that covered the side of the tin all around. I also need to addred and green m&m's.

I can't believe there are 20 days until Christmas. I guess that mean I should get serious about shopping and getting my cards addressed and sent out huh? Today should be a pretty good week at work. No huge projects to do with paperwork. That's a good thing. I have to do progress reports but that's it.

Unfailing Love is the video I have for you tonight. Take a listen.

Here's one of my favorites-God of This City-

I'm so tired so I'm going to call it a day. Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings to you and yours,

Another Crazy Week

2011-12-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

It seems like my life has been the hamster wheel for weeks now. I've finished two large reports and meetings, and Thanksgiving tonight with family, so I'm hoping it slows down. We decorated this weekend and I got to stamp with friends Friday and Saturday nights.
We have 16 days left until Christmas break. That is so Hope knows we're counting down to the next vacation. I can't believe we're here in December already! The older I get the quicker the years seems to fly by.
I stamped a cute scene to go behind this cute window. Check it out.
I saw this type of card on Kittie's blog:
I stamped the scene on a small piece of white cardstock. thern sponged in blue and green. I also added flower soft to the trees and ground. I changed the window size, the ribbon and the scene from Kittie's original card which was my inspiration.
The window die can be purchased here and it comes in two sizes.
Here is a link to the large window. They do make a small window which is what I used.

The second link is to the small window.

Here's a cute mouse looking in the window. I'm having fun trying to find stamps I can use to either look in or out of the window.

I've been listening to the songs from the movie, Couageous. This song by Mark Harris has caught my attention. I wish I could find the words to it but listen closely to the words. It's a wonderful reminder to us all.

May you continue to be richly blessed as you go through your day. Try not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. Instead try to show others Christ in you. See needs and try to fill them. Be yourself and think of others. You are so blessed.
So appreciative for you stopping by today. Hopefully I'll be able to post more often and stamp more often now that things have settled down.

Busy Day Putting Things Away Getting Ready For Another Work Week

2011-11-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a rainy day here in Cleveland. The temp. was in the mid fifties most of the day. What yucky weather to come back to. What was interesting too was that we all felt like we were in the Twilight Zone. We were returning from mid 70's weather with sunny, blue sky days to Christmas Lights put up everywhere! It must have been nice here Saturday as there are lots of lights up in our neighborhood.
There's no way it's going to be December later this week! Time is going by so fast. Christmas will be here before we know it.
In our house December brings about the beginning of celebrations in our house. Dec. 13th is my birthday, then Christmas, then the 30th is Sarah's bday. Jan 3rd is Tim's Bday and Feb 16th is Ben's bday.

I spent the day putting things away from the trip and also from the craft show. I had lots to do to clean up my stamping area.
I also had an Education Plan to finish which always takes longer than I want.
I did get to watch a bit of television. Love those Christmas movies on Lifetime. They take me away from reality for a while. I got some new books and cd's from the library. I want to plan on time to get them listened to and read so I don't have to renew them multiple times.
What is a birthday tradition in your family? What was it growing up?
Our birthday tradition when we were growing up was to have mom make our favorite birthday dinner. I always had spaghetti and meatballs. Mom made homemade sauce....yum!
Our birthday tradition now is to go out to eat at the restaurant of your choice. My choice is usually an Italian place....love to get lasagna since I don't often make it.
I have another education plan to finish by Thursday. It's a busy time of year.
Here's another Christmas Video for you by Matthew West.

Last Christmas, Matthew West released a touching video, One Last Christmas inspired by the true story of the Locke Family and their quest to make one final Christmas wish for their son come true. This year, Matthew delivers yet again another heart-warming and beautiful song, The Heart of Christmas as the title song from the GMC movie The Heart of Christmas based on this incredible story of the Locke family and the community that gave this little boy one last Christmas. This is truly a Christmas must-see which begins Dec. 4th!!

Thanks for stopping by. Start to think about the real reason for the season. Hopefully you'll find that if you concentrate on that you won't NEED to buy all sorts of things and wrap them. Buy some for your family and then use the rest on others. That's what we started doing last year. We each got a few presents then gave the money we'd spend on ourselves to different charities that we support such as The City Mission, Laura's Home, Truth For Life by Alistair Begg, World Vision and local families in our church.
May you begin to pray about what you can do for others this year for Christmas.
Bless you for thinking of others. Your kindness will be rewarded.
Blessings,

Home Sweet Home Here We Come

2011-11-26T19:38:00.016-05:00

Today we are on our way home. It was wonderful to be gone, but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed, in your own house, with your own stuff. I haven't made a card in a week and I'm itching to do that. LOL
Here are some cute photos I found while looking at FB.

I haven't seen this one before and just loved it! Love the look on that cat's face!

I love to rely on this and be reminded of this often.

I love to feel his closeness. Don't you?

Here's a song by Toby Mac to get you in the Christmas Spirit.

Glad you could stop by today. May the Lord Bless You and Keep You.

A Last Day Relaxing and Doing What We Want Before Coming Home

2011-11-25T18:55:00.000-05:00

Today is the day after Thanksgiving and I'm still thinking of all the things I'm thankful for. Here are some pictures from our last day or so. Ben and Sarah were heading to the beach to have fun in the ocean.

Here's a white crab that washed up on the beach. We thought at first that it was alive.

Next we found a horseshoe crab. We know it had just washed up overnight. It is NOT a crab. It is really in the spider family. The tail is a rudder for this creature. This is Sarah holding it so Ben could photograph it. Go Sarah!

Tim and I did a nice walk on the beach early before kids and dogs and runners got out. Then later after lunch we brought the sand chairs down to the beach to relax and read. Nothing like it. I told him it had been a week since I had a headache.

Ben and Sarah had fun throwing the football around.

I so enjoyed just sitting in my sandchair watching and listening to the waves come in. Little by little the waves came closer to us. High tide was arriving.

Another thing I wanted to do was nap in the hammock. I took a blanket, a book and a hat. I read for a while then dozed off listening to the ocean and rocking gently in the breeze. Loved it! Soooo relaxing.

Our last North Caroling sunset. This has been an extraordinary week! Thank you God for all your blessings.

We're packed and ready to come home. The tram will come for us at 6:45 a.m. to take us to the ferry. The ferry ride is 20 minutes so we should be on our way by 8. The tram picks up lots of people then we get the ferry at 7:30. It's been a lovely week of relaxing and getting away from home, work, etc. We had a different Thanksgiving dinner since we didn't make Turkey, mashed potatoes etc. We'll have that when we get home sometime.
Thanks for visiting Bald Head Island with us. It was wonderful to walk around in shorts and flip flops in weather in the 70's for most of the time here.
Blessings,

Thankful For More Than I Can Say.....

2011-11-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

It is Thanksgiving morning here in the U.S. Here in N.C. I'm so very thankful to be looking out at a calm ocean with the sun shining counting my blessings. I've been doing that all the time here. It's only through God that we were able to be here. We know that He is in charge and allowed us to be able to come here to Bald Head Island with a house on the beach. I never thought we'd be able to do this but we are. It's just one incredible gift from our Father. His gift of salvation is the most amazing gift of all. His mercies are new every morning. I found a picture on FB that shows another thing I'm grateful for.

To see this picture brings tears to my eyes. One that they'd pray all together like that and that in spite of their circumstances they are giving thanks. How selfish we are to complain about things in our lives when there are people who are suffering more like soldiers who fight for our freedom! Thank you God for opening my eyes to the important things in life. Please continue to remind me of those things when I complain.

I have some more pictures for you from our trip to Bald Head Island. Ben and Sarah are enjoying being in the water. This is as much as you can go into the water because it's about 30 degrees. Yesterday the waves were high.

It warmed up a bit and I was able to try out the hammock on our porch. It was relaxing to swing in this. I know I could have taken a nap had I had a blanket!

I am amazed at the pictures we get of the sun, sky and water.

There was so much wind with the rain in the morning that we got suds-like stuff on the beach.

Happy Thanksgiving and Blessings to you all as you celebrate today with Family and Friends. Take some time to meditate on things you are thankful for. Go deeper than just family, friends, food......there are so many things that we take for grated. What are you thankful for?
Blessings and thank you for stopping by.

Started With Rain But Sunshine Followed

2011-11-23T19:06:00.035-05:00

This morning we woke up to rain, high waves and soap suds like stuff on the beach. Tim and I went for a walk between rain showers. It was interesting to see the differences in the wave size and the bizarre suds on the beach.

Later, the sun came out and you wouldn't have known it rained. Ben and Sarah walked the beach in search of sand dollars. They found one. I found half of one and lots of quarters of one.

There is this kind of brush all around so there is no type of ourside yardword to do but use roundup on the walkways when the plants and vines grow up through. You can't walk through this area. There are fences all through it. This is the area I saw a red fox walk through.

Ben's in the hammock. Tim and I actually walked the beach longer than the kids. Imagine that~

While we were at the lighthouse in the area, we also looked at the signs of forts that were here and events from the Revolutionary War that took place. It's so weird since I know the history of my state, but was very interested in what happened here in NC.

Here's a little History:

Even though most of the British had recently sailed away with Maj. Gen. Henry Clinton bound for Charlestown, a small garrison was retained at Bald Head Island. The fortification was named Fort George in honor of the King, and was garrisoned with thirty men taken from various warships prior to their departure. Unfortunately, the thirty men only had twelve muskets.

Brig. Gen. James Moore placed Col. Thomas Polk, of the 4th NC Regiment, in command of Fort Johnston on the mainland to keep an eye on the small garrison situated across the wide inlet. Col. Polk learned of the garrison's weaknesses and decided to go take the enemy.

On the night of September 6th, Col. Polk sailed with 150 of his men across the inlet and landed on Bald Head Island. As they worked their way through the woods, they were discovered. The Patriots captured five sailors, but the alarm had been sounded. The other 25 British sailors took refuge in the small fort and fired upon the North Carolinians, keeping them at a distance.

Soon, nearby British ships heard the shots and sent a relief force. The HMS Falcon fired her 6-pounders into the woods at the Patriots to give the relief force a chance to arrive. Col. Polk had one man killed and one man wounded, then decided to withdraw. As they left, the NC Continentals burned a British cutter so that it would not pursue them.

The HMS Cruizer quickly mounted four of her 3-pounders on board the sloop Defiance. Lt. Dickerson sailed with five other boats around the island to block any escape by the Patriots. Lt. Dickerson discovered two of Col. Polk's boats at 1:00 am at Buzzard's Bay near the mainland. The Defiance and the Falcon fired into the woods at Buzzard's Bay, but the Patriots returned fire with a 3-pounder, keeping the ships away.
The British were unable to destroy the boats and withdrew before the sun rose.

While here we also saw lots of pelicans flying in groups high up then skimming the ocean. So cool to watch them. Didn't see them catch a fish though.

Bald Head Island is a village located on the east side of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. Compared to the city of Wilmington to the north, the village of Bald Head Island is small and somewhat remote. It is only accessible by ferry from the nearby town of Southport. Cars are not allowed; instead residents drive modified electric golf carts.

The village is revered for its picturesque nature and is a popular location for retirement. It was the primary filming location for the successful film Weekend at Bernie's in 1989, as well as being a major location in The Butcher's Wife in 1991. "Old Baldy", its out-of-service lighthouse, is the oldest still standing in the state, built in 1817. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Check out the lighthouse in the background. Notice that the light is NOT centered.....

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

To The Lighthouse We Go Tuesday

2011-11-22T20:25:00.001-05:00

Today was a lazy day around here. We each got to sleep in and do what we wanted most of the day. We eat lunch and dinner together. This afternoon we went to Bald Head Island's lighthouse. There were three lighthouses originally and the only one left. It was a long walk to the top. When you got to the last level you had to climb a ladder....I made it though it was a matter of adjusting to the opening. I was not going to go that far huffing and puffing to the top and not see the view. I was told the view was gorgeous.
Here are some pictures of the outside, inside and top side views. We noticed that the top of the lighthouse isn't centered. Here are Ben and Sarah at the foot of the lighthouse.

Check out the inside of this place as we climb the many thin steps to the top. This is not an easy climb.

I was huffing and puffing when I got this far and wanted to keep going to see what was at the top.

Here is the view from the top. You can see the forest, river and marsh lands that are on this island. What an interesting mixture of vegetation.

Only golf carts are allowed on the island. The speed limit is 18 mph. Our cart doesn't even get that! You drive these carts with the pedal to the metal and you're maybe going 15 mph over hills and down hills. LOL

There are many oddly shaped trees like this around here. Many have moss hanging from them.

After the tough walk to the top, Tim and I were grateful to be back at the house to watch the setting sun. The sun sets about 5 p.m. then stays light for another half hour or so.

Thanks for stopping by today. I continue to count my blessings here.

Sun Up and Sun Down

2011-11-21T19:17:00.000-05:00

We arrived in North Carolina last night and took a ferry to Bald Head Island, all in the dark. So weird to take a ferry and not see much but lights. Then we got a tram that took us to our house, in the dark. It was a very odd feeling. Of course it gets dark here by 5 or so. We arrived after nine here.
As odd as that was, I got to sleep late, then was up to watch the sun come up! I was looking forward to getting to sleep in. I guess my body is used to be up by 6. ugh..............Anyway, God rewarded me with a gorgeous sunrise! Oh my was it beautiful! I had a cup of coffee on the porch and took picture after picture of this beautiful place.

Here's my sweet Sarah on a walk with me down the beach. We had fun picking up shells. She liked the typical shell shapes with the pretty colors. I on the other hand liked the odd-shaped shells with fossil looking shapes inside. The water is cold to walk in but after a bit you get used to it. Tim says it's because your feet are frozen! LOL

Here is the end of the sunlight setting in the west. After the sun sets, it's still light for a bit. You can walk the beach a bit longer. Lots of animals here we're told. We saw dolphins swim by today. Hope to get some pictures of them.

What a wonderful gift we've been given by God. To be able to experience his creations in a different environment has been amazing. I still can't believe we are here! Many of the people here are renters like us. There are about 500 residents who stay for the winter. They only get snow once or twice a year. Nothing at all like Cleveland eh?

Thanks for stopping by. I will soon have info about our craft show and items we sold there.

Bless you for stopping by.

Hectic Week, Faithful God

2011-11-19T09:11:00.001-05:00

What a hectic week I've had. The last few days I've felt the love of the Lord upon me. So many 'little' things were done to help me lower my stress level. Lots going on at work, home and at church. I'm thrilled to be able to recognize all God's done for me.
This video was made by our church and I thought it was sooooo appropriate for my life right now.
See what you think. Can it be your song too?

Do Everything (Take 2) from Sam Beatty on Vimeo.

His love is so sweet...I know I take it for granted...I'm so thankful for Him in my life.
Bless you for visiting.

Freedom

2011-11-12T15:36:00.002-05:00

Interesting that I'd find this song just after Veterans' Day.
Freedom is Here

I've been so busy that I never got this posted. I'm getting it done now.
A cup of coffeey by my side and a bit of chocolate too. :)

We Honor All Veterans of Today and Yesterday

2011-11-11T22:44:00.001-05:00

Does it seem overly used to say how thankful I am for all of the Veterans who are currently serving or have served in the service to protect us from harm? I remember hearing about my dad training seal divers in WWII and thinking, Wow, he was serving to help our side win............I don't think there's been a time in my lifetime where there hasn't been fighting. That in itself is really sad. What is even sadder is that so many in this generation don't get the importance of honoring these Veterans who gave so much of themselves for their country.
As I was talking to my students about all of this they finally GOT it that mom or dad would be gone for a long period of time. While they were gone they could be hurt or killed at any minute. You didn't know if they'd come home or not................I can't imagine living with that. I know it goes on all of the time but I can't imagine it.
Makes me want to find a family to help that's in that situation, you know? At any rate, I want my students to know that this is an important day that should never be forgotten.

Check out this video and the words to this song by Mark Harris, called The Creed.

It's time for sleep, I just wanted to pop in to let you know I'm still here and will show some projects very soon.
Blessings,

2011-11-08T23:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, so much going on here lately! Friday I hosted our Hostess group where we made two cards and enjoyed pumpkin roll, YUM!
Saturday I hosted the Card Ministry to come and make things to sell at the craft show.
After the ladies left I continued on by putting things in bags and adding a ribbon and Christmas leaves or decorations with the ribbon.
Here's what my work areas looked like.

Sunday I spent the day working on more things for the craft show. Monday I was back to work. Tim came home tonight. We were so glad to see him. He was very glad to see us too. 5 days is a long time to be away from family when you are used to being with them.
A good friend of mine, Val came by for an hour or so to help me get these items ribboned then packed to go to the craft fair. Now I have to price them.
Today it was crazy at work. We have to have extra security at our school when it's open for elections. None of the students could use the downstairs restrooms because of voting, so everyone used the bathrooms by my room. There was so much noise, I longed for peace and quiet. I came home and just felt like I'd been bombarded with noise all day long.
I took Sarah out for shoes tonight. We bought some but they are higher than I wanted for her. They don't make many shoes at all that have a low heel.
Well, it's time to get some sleep.
Blessings and thanks for stopping by tonight.,

My Sweetie's Gone.......

2011-11-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

I am just home from my Webmaster workshop for work. It was pretty good too.
I can't wait to try some of the things I learned. This things are hard to go to because you put teachers in front of computers and they play instead of doing what the teacher is doing, then they have to ask what they missed. It's annoying also when they have questions about something they are doing that they are not supposed to be doing. In spite of that it was a good workshop.

In the wee hours of the morning Tim left on a trip to Texas for a fish convention. He was up at 3:30 a.m. with a check in at 5 a.m. This is the first time he's been gone since the kids were little. It's pretty weired and will be more so when I go to sleep tonight.

I have been busy making things for the craft show the 18th and 19th.
See what you think.

This box for cards was made using a piece of glossy paper. I used alcohol and reinker on a piece of felt and stamped all over the glossy card. When that was dry I stamped in versamark and embossed with silver embossing powder. I cut out a border in white paper and added it to the front. Then I added the center pieces in the circle. The box stays closed with a small piece of velcro.

I stamped pine needles all over white cardstock. Then I used a 3/4" punch for the square and ran it through the crimper. Next I used the small petal from the Blossom Petals punch. I then added 3-D lacquer to the bulbs and added some SU silver glass glitter. I attached them with silver cord.

For this card I used the Berry Christmas designer paper for the background. Next I stamped Merry Christmas on white. Next I punched out the stocking in red and silver glitter paper. I ran the stocking pieces and the red strip of paper through the cuttlebug to emboss them. I glued the stocking together then added a jingle bell with silver cord. Loved how this came out.

This was a quick and easy card to make. I stamped the star first then added Joy with navy using my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up Joy. I bordered this with the silver paper and then the navy paper.

I stamped the pine needles in garden green and artichoke. I added pinecones to the corners to frame Joy. I used the silver paper behind the red. I added striped ribbon to make the text stand out a bit more.

This was a quick and easy card to make. I stamped the star first then added Joy with navy using my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up Joy. I bordered this with the silver paper and then the navy paper.

On this card I wanted to experiment and see what the silver paper would look like embossed. I really like it. I embossed it with the smae folder as the background. I stamped the stocking and added silver pieces punched out with the stocking punch.

This is one card that will go into the card holder at the top. It was another easy one to make.

I've been listening to a new song this week on the album of Casting Crowns. Here's the video that tells why Just Another Birthday was written......
Here's the video, see what you think.

Well,
I've got to get some dinner and cards made.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,
Bensarmom

Do Everything, Cards and Retreat

2011-10-30T23:20:00.000-04:00

This song played at church tonight with pictures of people in our church inserted into a video. It made for a fun video to watch. I like to be able to see the words while the song is playing. Here's Steven Curtis Chapman's song called, Do Everything.

You know it's only through God's help that we can do what we can for others. That we can spread love and kindness wherever we work, play, live, and shop. We were challenged to make a difference in our lives by doing for others, especially those that are difficult to like.
Is there someone who is difficult that is around you? Think about something you could do to show love or kindness to them.
Here are some cards I've made since I've been back from the retreat. They were both made for the featured stamper on SCS. It's a regular Sunday challenge. The image is Riley with Smores. The screen door was a kit I purchased at the stamp show in Strongsville last weekend. What a fun thing to play with. Here is the card closed....

and opened. This was lots of fun to color with copic markers.

This was another card I made for the same challenge. I used baker's twine and the stocking punch to make this card. I also attached the little jingle bells from Stampin Up. So stinkin' cute! LOL We're going to make this for my Hostess club and to sell at the craft show.

The retreat was amazing! I enjoyed it especially talking with women and getting closer to some of them. It's wonderful getting past the mundane weather, and how are you stuff, ya know? I roomed with Jane and two other ladies. We had a great speaker then had fun games Friday night then free time in the hospitality suite in their lower level. It was fun to paint nails with wild colors, eat snacks, look at magazines, play games, play corn hole and sing and dance.
The two other ladies and I rotated getting Jane to different places due to her needing a walker and wheelchair. We had wonderful meals there and had a fun afternoon today. After the speaker spoke Saturday afternoon we had several hours to relax. We could make earrings, cards, scrapbook pages, or get a 5 minute chair massage.
I was glad to get home though. It's nice to get away but nice to come home.
Tonight Tim and I went to the 6pm service. It is more contemporary and I love it. It was nice to go to the service with him. It's been a long time since we've been in a service together.
The kids went this morning with Ben driving. It's so weird not having to drive them to church Sundays and Wednesdays. It takes some getting used to, ya know?
My dear friend Val had some family medical issues which seem to have worked out. Still praying for all of them especially for the one with her husband.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Got to Make Cards-Off to a Retreat

2011-10-28T00:16:00.000-04:00

Today I got to do a few cards. They are to sell at our craft show on Nov 18-19. See what you think.

This card was for the Ways to use it challenge on SCS. You had to use leaves. I like how the leaves softened this.

Tomorrow we have teacher meetings in the a.m. then in the afternoon I do report cards and progress reports for education plans. Then after work I'm off to a retreat with ladies from my church. Can't wait!

Please pray for a friend Val's family. Her husband has to have a procedure and her FIL is also having a procedure. There is another family member in the hospital and they are running tests.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bless you,

Cards and Sweet Sarah's Homecoming Dress

2011-10-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

Well it's that time again where report cards are due. Friday we will have a teacher in-service then work on report cards in the afternoon. I can't believe our school year is 1/4 over already!
I made some fun things for our craft show at church. See what you think:
This first picture is a set of 4 cards and envelopes in a plastic box with cord and holly leaves and a berry.

This next card is a fun one a spoof on the Night Before Christmas.

At the Stamp and Scrapbook sale in Strongsville Saturday, I found these boxes to make my S'more Kits. Won't this be so stinkin' cute when it gets the s'more stuff inside?

This is a close up of the tag that will be on our snowman soup item that will be for sale at our craft show.

Here's the snowman with earmuffs with the tag attached.

Here's a cute little elephant card. I just loved this set.

Here is the inside of the card I made. Isn't this stinkin' cute?

This is my sweet Sarah's gorgeous Homecoming Dress. The church is holding a homecoming dance with a better environment for kids of this age. Glad we could find a dress for Sarah. I was so worried after seeing dresses of girls who go to the local high school. After looking at some of the dresses in the store, I was not too hopeful we'd find something for Sarah. Thank you Jesus for helping us find something.

Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Sweet Sarah, God's Sweet Encourager

2011-10-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

Sarah was asked to read a poem she wrote to a former teacher of hers who lost her baby. She has added this to her Facebook page:

Sarah Craig~
so I'm reading a poem I wrote tomorrow afternoon at a memorial ceremony for all of the precious babies that didn't make it. I just want to ask that you say a prayer for all the mothers & fathers out there who have that kind of grief on their shoulders. please pray that they will somehow come closer to Christ through this. and to anyone who has ever lost a child, please know that this picture perfectly shows where your miracle is - safe in His arms. ♥
Here's her poem:

In The Blink of an Eye

By: Sarah Craig

Silently

The tears fall down your face

As the doctor says,

"I'm Sorry"

The grief you feel

Is mare than you can bear

There was something unique inside you

But it was stripped away

In the blink of an eye

The miracle that was once there will forever be

loved and remembered,

though unborn

The loss; the pain

You can't do it along

Call on your Father

He will catch you in His arms

and hold on tight

Don't give up now

Seasons will change

Tomorrow is another day

Look up in the sky

The Son is shining through these dark clouds

Bask in His warmth

Don't give up hope

Be strong

And know that you are forever in my prayers

Makes me cry when I read this. She will be reading this at a memorial for all who have had little ones die. Please Lord, give Sarah the strength to read this in front of all of the people that will be there. May glory be given to you through her actions and words. Bless all of those there who will need you. Please help them cling to you to get them through their difficult time.

Sarah did a beautiful job reading her poem. She's only 14 and wrote this when she was 12. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Thank you God for filling Sarah with what she needs to be such an encouragement to all she comes in contact with.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Snowman Box and Tomorrow's Friday!

2011-10-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Tonight I finished cutting cardstock for cards we'll make tomorrow evening. I got to make a snowman for our snowman soup which is hot chocolate, mini marshmallows and a candy cane. I found the directions here. I changed a few things on this. I used the scallop circle for ear muffs instead of a button. I fringed the ribbon to look like a scarf and drew a smile mouth. Thanks Lisa for the darling snowman box. Isn't he just stinkin' cute? We'll sell him at our church craft fair which will make money for our Card Ministry.

I am excited that tomorrow's Friday. I have been burning the candle at both ends lately and I need to sleep in. I'd also like to make some fun things for this craft show which I will begin this weekend. Sunday we're having a three-hour card making session for ladies to come and help me make things and package them to sell.
I'm thanking God for all He's done for me today. It's amazing all He does throughout my day. He got me up after 4 1/2 hours of sleep. I did my routine, read my Bible and got a strong cup of coffee. He brought me through the day without a hitch.
Thank you God for your mercy and love.
Thanks for stopping by, it's time for sleep.
Blessings,

3 and 1

2011-10-19T23:47:00.001-04:00

Tonight I got to design my cards and 3-D project for Friday Night's Stamping Fun.Hence the name for my title, 3 and 1. :) Here are the things I came up with. This first card was CASED from here on SCS. I changed a few things but loved trying these colors together. Olive, marina mist and pretty in pink. The background was brayered then sponged with marina mist. Then I cut olive paper for the scallop. I stamped the flowers in black to make this look like an evening scene. I used my 1 inch punch to punch out a sticky note. I had the sticky note on there the whole time I was brayering and sponging. When I removed the circle I sponged a little bit so the moon wouldn't be so white. I like the softer look. I added pearls to two flower centers and a sparkly olive brad to the little banner.

This second card is using Gently Falling two-step stamping set. Fun to use to be sure. I stamped the leaf in cajun then burgundy for the detail stamp. I used crumb cake and brown for the acorns. I tore paper above and below the image. I also added stamping to the envelope.

This was a small white bag I picked up at Hollo's in brunswick. I used the take a sip wheel with chocolate chip ink for the bag. I then used Like it a Latte retired SU set for the latte. I added ridinghood red ribbon and layered the circles. The latte foam is made with dimensional fabric paint with glitter that I found in Joann's. I put it on then used my heat tool to dry it.

I stamped using cajun craze ink on the crumb cake paper along the border. I put crumb cake cardstock through the cuttlebug with the tree bark embossing folder. I cut out the top note in cajun craze and a light brown paper. I stamped in garden green then stamped off to make the trees in the back. I sponged crumb cake around the light brown top note piece. I added Happy Birthday using garden green ink.

I hope the ladies like these projects. I've begun putting things together for our show. Here's one of the boxes I got at Hollo's on Brunswick that is filled with 4 cards and envys. I added stretchy cord and some holly. What do you think? Jan and I made a dozen cards yesterday and packaged them in a clear box from Hollo's in Brunswick. I added stretchy cord and holly.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm happy I have these designed, now all I have to do is cut paper.
I hope our rain stops soon, or we'll be building an ark here in Cleveland...............rain, rain, go away, come again another day.............LOL.
Blessings,

Mike's Chair and Cardmaking

2011-10-15T21:23:00.000-04:00

Sweet Sarah brought my attention to this beautiful video. It sure made me feel good. Listen carefully to the words and enjoy......

I have been busy the last two days making cards for Card Ministry. We didn't have time to finish some of these so I finished them at home today.
This was fun to do. I used my Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves ink pad to wipe across the embossed leaves. I embossed the background with pumpkins and vines. I used the dewcorative Label xl for the greeting. It looks like a simple card but I needed to put each card we made through the cuttlebug three times. Once to cut out the top note, once to emboss the top note, then once to emboss the background.
This was one of 4 different styles of cards we made for the Nursing Home Ministry. They needed 80 cards, so we made 20 of 4 designs.

Here's another card we made for Cardministry. This will go to the Nursing Home ministry.

This was a CASE of a card that was on those sheets we used to get from demos when we purchased a stamp set. This is an SU set that is retired called Autumn Leaf Prints

This was to show the ladies how to layer colors to fill in the edge of their image panel.

This was a fun card to make. I used the Amuse Snow Globe die set to make it. What fun to cut out the snowglobe then stamp, sponge and emboss the silver star.

This was another Thanksgiving Card for the Nursing Home Ministry. it was fun the layer the colors of the leaves with the two step stamping set, Gently Falling.

Thank goodness I had Friday off from work. Iwas able to get the cards designed and cut and packed to go to Card Ministry. I'm looking forward to doing some stamping for me very soon.

We had a gentleman from The City Mission come by for dinner Thursday evening. What a wonderful time we had. He just wanted to visit us since we're faithful givers to Laura's Home. We will get a tour of the downtown campus where they house the men's program and the kid's programs.

What an exciting thing to see all that is going on with this agency. They do not take donations from government at any level. They work on rehabilitating men and women to break the cycle of lifestyle they've grown up in. It's amazing what they do. They also help recently released people from prison get a start again.

Thanks for stopping by today. God Bless you!

Books and Videos, and Cards, Oh My!

2011-10-11T23:36:00.000-04:00

Here's another video about how the older couple came to play in the Mayo Clinc lobby and what they do for others. They are a true inspiration to me with how they give of themselves.
I also saw more of the beauty of fall all around me. The leaves here are so colorful. I love and hate this time of year. I love the colors and walking in the leaves. I hate it because I know that soon we'll be shoveling and driving through snow. We're supposed to get another record year of snow.
Here are some more cards I made. Having fun making shaker cards.
This is a card from a retired set called All Wrapped Up from SU. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to place the candy in the jar. I cut out three candies and added a dimensional to them. I used daffodil ribbon. The designer paper was cut with the laurel paper punch from Marths Stewart. I used a Tim Hold embossing folder for the background.

This was a fun shaker card to make with SU's foam frames. I stamped the snowman and colored it in copic markers. I added a frame and acetate then stamped the snowflakes on white paper and edged it with bashful blue ink. I added dimensionals to make the snowman stand up from the card. I also stamped Merry Christmas and punched it out with the curly label punch. I used a holly leaf embossing folder that I borrowed from Jane.

Here is a stamp set that Emily has. We stamped in black ink then colored with watercolor crayons. I sponged the edge with crumb cake ink. I used the blossom nesty and the lace circle nestie. The embossing folder is a Darice Christmas folder. I added cherry ribbon and the text.

Here's another shaker card with daffodil and bashful blue paper and a pretty silver ribbon down the center.

I finally finished listening to a Danielle Steel book and I'm so glad I'm done with it. It got to be almost unbelieveable at some points but I didn't want to forward the story and miss something.

Now I get to read the book I've been waiting to read. It's a book by Beverly Lewis called The Mercy.

Have you listened to or read, On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet? It's an amazing book about a boy and his life before WWII, during and after. I listened to it and really liked it. I"m having fun getting books from the library that I can listen to while I make cards or drive to and from work.

Thanks for stopping by today. It's time to get some sleep for tomorrow, another work day. Tomorrow we're supposed to get rain. Seems like I work with so many people who get werather-related headaches.

Thank you for stopping by today. Check out this video about Shoebox Christmas and a trip that Matthew West and his wife took to deliver the shoeboxes to children in remote places. A smile can be understood in any language.

Bless you for stopping by.

Time to Play After All the Paperwork...Fun, Fun, Fun!

2011-10-11T23:16:00.000-04:00

Here is the cutest video I've seen in a while. It's a cute older couple who plays in the Mayo Clinc on the way to an appt. Here are some cards I made over the weekend.

It was such a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather. It was as close at perfect as it comes.
I'm so thankful for the beautiful weather. I'm also thankful for your visit today.
Blessings,

Paper Work, When Will It End?

2011-10-05T18:25:00.000-04:00

Here is the card I made for the sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers. I had fun coloring the basket with copic markers. I used paper and ribbon from Sweet N Sassy's August Kit of the Month. Isn't this paper lucious!?

Love the buttons that came with this set as well as the ribbon. It was an easy challenge which was good since I need to get lots of work done that I brought home. I have teacher conferences tomorrow and I have to write an education plan which are about 17 pages. I just needed to do something for me first. Now I will be more willing to spend the evening at my desk and computer. sigh........

Check out this link to what CNN wrote about the movie Courageous that just opened in some theatres this past weekend.
I hope and pray that you are doing well. Thank you for blessing my day by visiting.
Hugs,

We Were Born To Be Courageous

2011-10-02T20:29:00.000-04:00

I have had a great day of relaxation and family time. I went with Tim and the kids to see the movie, Courageous. It is another film by the Christians who made Fireproof, Flywheel, and Facing the Giants. It was intense and very good. I really enjoyed it. See what you think.

I also had a nice dinner with Tim and the kids after the movie. What fun family time. It was good to do things with family and not for work. I have plenty to do, but just wanted to do this. We planned it so we all were on the same page with schedules.

I have been listening to this song by Fee. Have you heard of this group? I don't know many songs of theirs but plan to listen to more. This is Fee-Arms That Hold The Universe.

I got to make a few cards this weekend also. Take a look. I used a Darice Folder for the background then added the stamped stockings with mica flakes. I used this for today's Featured stamper challenge on SCS.

This card was fun and super easy. I used SU snowflake folder on glossy cardstock and colored it with a dauber. Then I stamped the snowman added a button, some mica flakes and the circle cup.

Tonight I also watched the dvd called Young Victoria. It was a pretty good movie. I'd seen ads for it and thought it looke pretty good. It was....

Well, it's time to get some work done for work. Have an education plan due Wednesday.
Take care and thanks for stopping by today. You are such an encouragement to me.
Blessings,

My Hope Is In You Lord......

2011-10-01T15:47:00.002-04:00

Thanks Susan for that title and for uploading the video and the information behind it.

Here's how this song came to be.

Thanks for checking this out today.
Blessings,

Some of Jane's Toys.......

2011-09-30T20:55:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am with some cards that I've been working on. The image was colored with copic markers and I colored the snowman with SU's Dazzling Details.

The next images are from SU's Always Thankful. The cut outs are Jane's new toys. She let me use these this week since she's busy with other things.

Here's a Candy Cup with Rhubarb I made a slider behind the cardy so the card wouldn't have to be taken apart to be enjoyed.

Isn't this just the cutest image? I love this little guy. I used another set of Jane's Nesties. I also useds paper from my monthly pack from Sweet N Sassy.

I tried this cutie again and paired it with Jane's nesties and the pumpkin using espresso background.

I used masking to put these three pumpkins together.

Here's the Always Thankful set again using copics.

Lots of little things I put together this week. Really love coloring with copics. It brings such a peace to me.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

A Happy Day! My performance Review is Done!

2011-09-27T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today was the day my boss came to my classroom to observe one of my reading lessons. We asked her to join our group. I don't know who enjoyed it more, her or the kids. I will meet with her soon to discuss what she saw, then she will type it up and we'll sign it.
I didn't bring any homework home tonight. I was helping Jane put her pictures and music into a video which will be played Saturday at the dinner to celebrate their mission trip.
It worked too because she was so grateful that she left her new toys for me to play with! LOL
Here is a card I made for today's color challenge. I love the colors, cherry, pool party and espresso.
Here's my card for today's scrumpcious challenge. I CASED this card by Nan Cee's

but used ink and iridescent ice instead of colored embossing powders. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...&cat=21498

Thanks for a great color combo, this is one of my favs!

I am hoping to get some more cards done in the next few days. I've missed it.
Here's a video that matches my title today. Happy Day:

Thanks for visiting today. I'm off to play with the toys Jane left for me to play with!
Blessings to you and yours.

I'm The Featured Stamper Today on Splitcoast Stampers.Com! Woot, Woot!

2011-09-25T23:30:00.000-04:00

So Guess what? I was the featured stamper today on Splitcoast Stampers!
Check it out.........

FS242 {09/25/2011} She's a Mom, No Snappy Intro Here...

But she's BENSARMOM with over 4600 cards and other fun stuff for you to choose from to CASE in her wonderful GALLERY full of fabulous inspiration.

I chose Sue's Mother's Day Card and made my Autumn Leaves & Blessings card. I loved the deep, rich colors that she used and changed everything else.

Be sure to check out all of the fun at the FS242 Gallery!

Cool huh? I even CASED a card someone CASED from me! Double CASING LOL.
Here's my shaker card.

Here's my CASE of Angela's CASE of mine! Confused? LOL I just had to play today. I used my new shaker frames from SU to make this card. I stamped the pumpkin from a retired SU set called Happy Blessings, and colored it with copic markers. I added seed beads then put the top scallop circle on. The I added pumpkins and vines using my embossing folder. I added Give Thanks with dimensionals. I'm having so much fun today! Thanks ladies for helping me celebrate.
It's time for sleep. Thanks ladies for a great day.
Blessings,

Are We Crazy? What Were We Thinking?

2011-09-23T00:08:00.000-04:00

Isn't it true you should get smarter as you get older? Well guess what we did tonight? We'd been talking about getting a drum set for Sarah and we got the deal of a lifetime from friends. We got a bass guitar and case, a Fender amplifier, and a full set of drums with all the extras for more than half-off their original price! That was a GREAT deal, however, even with the pads that make it quieter, I had to close the door to the basement cuz I couldn't think! LOL
Maybe it's time to have our heads examined huh? Hopefully we won't regret our purchases. Please pray for us or send ear plugs! LOL

It was good to sit at home tonight. I finished listening to a book on computer called, Legacy by Danielle Steel. It was great to listen to while I made cards. I'm going to listen to Family Ties by her as well. I just saw one called Happy Birthday that I didn't know was there so I might order that to listen to.

I got to make a box for the Inspiration Challenge on SCS. Here's my little box. I got these boxes from my friend Val in a sale at her house yesterday. I was excited to try to do something with this. I need to make some things for our craft sale at church in November.

Here is my inspiration for this box.

Instead of red however, I used the Berry Blossoms designer paper and cut 2x2 inch squares to decorate the box. I took SU white flowers and spritzed them with water and paritally colored with coral marker and folded the flowers so the ink would soak into the rest of the flowers to give a soft look. I added pearls in the center. The top flower has three flowers blended together to give texture and height. Not sure what I'll put in this, however, I might make more of these for our craft fair at church. What would you put inside?

Well, it's time to get to sleep. I've got a busy day with errands and cleaning. Hopefully some stamping as well!
Bless you for visiting and encouraging me.

What a Day

2011-09-22T23:49:00.000-04:00

I had a long day but somehow I made it. I spent the day in an inservice for work. It is typically the kind of thing that gives me headaches. I took two excedrin and went to the inservice and came out without a headache.
I got home took the two boxes out of the van, then got back in and drove to meet a friend for dinner. It was a wonderful evening catching up. We then went to another friend's house and looked at things she wanted to sell. She used to be a demo and had some fun things to use for stamping evenings or for my craft show items.
Here's the card I made using the crayon rubbed embossing technique. Love the daffodil and cherry combo.
What do you think?

Take care, tomorrow's Friday.
Blessings,

I Got To Stamp

2011-09-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

I got to stamp tonight and made a petal card using Beate's video on SCS. Here's my card.

I completed it using pool party and the designer paper spice cake. I used markers and colored the flowers with pool party and espresso markers

I had fun doing this card and love how the flowers look. I colored the stamp with markers.

Got to get some sleep. Thanks for looking,

Blessings,

A Beautiful Day In NE Ohio

2011-09-18T23:42:00.000-04:00

It's another beautiful day here in N.E. Ohio. I can't believe how wonderful it is. Today I will go to the evening service so I got a lot done this morning. I made a card for SCS's Featured Stamper Challenge. I love using this Blossoms Abound set from SU which is retired.

Here's a photo of my work area. I usually am neat and organized.............lately with all of the things going on around here I've just been putting things on the table and leaving them. Yikes, I'm glad it doesn't last that long though. I can't work in an environment like this for long. lol

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.............I don't have to be strong enough on my own, I have Christ.................Matthew West sings a great reminder to all of us. This was brought to my attention again tonight and really speaks to me.

I love the line where he sings, I'm asking you to be, strong enough for both of us.......When I'm finally at rock bottom that's where I start looking up.

I thank you God for giving me a church home and family as well as the husband and father I have for my kids. You are an amazing God, able to do more than I could ever hope or imagine.

Thanks for visiting,

Blessings

Play Day At Jane's House

2011-09-17T21:29:00.000-04:00

Here are some cards I've been working on last night and today. I'm loving this doily stamp from Stampin' Up. This was embossed in white embossing powder. I added stickles and a red bow.

Here is the first card I made with the doily stamp. Love this stamp on eggplant too. I added wasabi ruffled ribbon to the card.

Here's another new set from SU called Gently Falling. It is a two-step stamping set. I love the embossing folder borrowed from Jane.

Here's another card I made using Janes new cut out circles. I made this into a fall wreath.

I had a fun day today. I went to Hollo's this morning with my friend Val. Then I stamped with Jane. What a great day!
Blessings to you,

What is Normal? LOL

2011-09-15T22:31:00.000-04:00

It seems that at work we are falling into a more relaxed, normal routine. Just when we start to feel that way however, something rocks the boat~Today by noon Andrea, Patti and I had brains of mush!
We were trying to work out scheduling issue AGAIN! The paper schedule I'm using is getting thinner and thinner with each time I erase.
Tonight I have designed three of the 4 things we'll make tomorrow at my 4 4 10 stamping night. Here they are.

This is the candy box my stamping night ladies will make tomorrow. It is a quick, fun and easy to make candy holder! Start with any designer series paper (Berry Blossoms is used for this one) and cut into a 6x6 piece. Score at 2" and 4" both ways so that it looks like a tic-tac-toe board. Then score each corner box diagonally. Punch holes in each corner and fold the corners towards the middle. Tie some ribbon through the holes and add some fun images on each side (this one has Field Flowers) and then it's ready for some candy. Using designer paper is easier than regular cardstock which it heavier. I used 12" of white ribbon.

Today was much cooler and we actually had to close windows after our room was aired out. It was nice for a change not to have the fans going. It's easier to talk and hear one another.
I have to make one more card for tomorrow night. I'm going to use my new Hello Doily stamped. I embossed it and inked it up. We'll see what I come up with.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Card Ministry Wow so Many Showed Up!

2011-09-10T22:23:00.000-04:00

I have to tell you I sure wasn't prepared for the number of ladies who showed up Friday to Card Ministry. We had 15 plus me. Amazing isn't it? We finished 125 cards in an hour! Wish I would have had more cards to make. I just never know how many are going to be there.
Here are the cards we made:

Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

More Cards and a Date With Tim

2011-09-10T00:50:00.014-04:00

I have more cards to post today. I got to stamp a little today. Yesterday I received my Sweet N Sassy kit of the month with this darling Rhubarb Bear, designer paper, ribbon, buttons and bakers string. What fun! I'm having fun stamping for myself. This past week I was busy making cards for card ministry. We had 15 ladies there last night and finished 125 Christmas cards. We finished in about an hour believe it or not. Wish I would have had more cards ready to make. I'm going to have to start now in order to get as many made as possible. This is our busy time as Thanksgiving cards for the Nursing Home are requested as well as Christmas cards for them and the church office. We need 240 cards for the pastors and staff to use.
Here are my Rhubarb the bear cards. Whatcha think?

I also had a date with Tim today. We went to lunch then to Medina again. Part of the reason for that was so I could pick up my Nesties that were a raincheck at Hobby Lobby. I also looked in Joann's down there and found things to purchase as well. I needed red and green papers for more Christmas cards, as well as Christmas designer paper to use on cards too. I got some cute kid papers to make birthday cards for kids. We have a craft show in November so I'm also trying to make things for that.
After we went to Joann's we headed back home and stopped at Tim's favorite place for rocks for his aquariums. He needed more rocks for the new fish he has. He sold fish and emptied a tank or two then had to fill it again with rocks and fish. It's a good thing he has a hobby like this cuz he understands my hobby! LOL
Bless you for visiting.

Got To Stamp! Woohoo!

2011-09-06T20:11:00.000-04:00

Here are some projects from over the weekend. I made some time for homework to get done and some stamping time for me.This is a top note purse using the new quilted espresso ribbon and the SU Christmas paper. Love this sparkly candy cane stuff!

This is my first card with this stamp set. I used glossy cardstock and rubbed with a dauber and sponge using wisteria ink. The flowers and leaves were embossed with white ep.

This is another top note purse. I used the reverse side of the paper for this one. You can see a bit of candy cane in the background.

I am so tired tonight. I worked from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. I felt like the hamster on the wheel so I just had to stay and get some things sorted through and organized.
Please pray for my friend Pam, as she lost her step-mom over the weekend.
Blessings to you and yours.

Can't Live Without You, Don't Want To!

2011-09-04T00:05:00.000-04:00

I heard this song tonight as I was enjoying some creatin' time. I loved the words, I can't live without you, don't want to.......I know it's a little funky, but I like this kind of music too and thought I'd share with you.

I can't believe how busy I've been with my job since we've started back. No time for stamping. That makes for a crabby mom I have to tell you! LOL
Look what Tim sent to me. It made my colleagues jealous. It was a complete surprise and it was something that made my week! Thank you my sweet husband!

Patti and I have been sweating it out in the sweatshop of a room we have while temps went to the 90's Thursday and Friday. We were sweating just sitting in our room which now has 5 fans! My boss invited my class to come and sit in the office and read for a bit. Isn't that sweet of her? All but two of my students went.
I got to stamp with Jane yesterday and I made a few cards. Check them out. I used black embossing powder with glitter in it for the words. I colored the image with markers. I used the ticket punch for the corners and put the background through the cuttlebug with the holly folder. Love it! All of the words really sparkle, wish you could see it.

This is a card I made using my new snowflake embossing folder from SU, the Santa Hat from Whipper Snapper, and my new mica flakes in the SU holiday mini. The edges of the white paper have red stickles added.

I was wiped out today whew, I slept a lot. I got up at 8 tried to check email and almost fell asleep. I went back to sleep until 10. I got up and ate lunch then was back in bed by 11:30. I slept until 2:30.

Last night Tim and I got to go to dinner in Medina and found the BEST restaurant for pasta I've EVER eaten at. It was called Dominic's. We let Garmin find Italian food for us. What a great place. It is a family owned place but the fettuccine with chicken was amazing. I don't usually comment about the pasta I eat since it's not extraordinary. But I sure couldn't stop talking about how great my diner was. Tim was amazed at how many shrimp he got in his pasta. There were some on top and a bunch on the bottom. We'll be going back to Dominic's soon. Thanks Garmin.

Gotta get some more sleep, lots of homework to do tomorrow.

Blessings,

A Beautiful God Blessed Day

2011-08-29T23:55:00.000-04:00

I have to tell you about my Saturday. I began by going grocery shopping. As I was pulling into my space I saw an elderly woman walking with a walker from her car to the store. She took about 5 minutes to get there she was walking so slowly. Once she got inside she leaned on a cart and was fine. She was attempting to pull or push her walker to the cart drop off area so it would be out of the way and she could pick it up on her way out.
I asked if I could help her and she said, 'Yes, it goes over there." "That's why I like this store because of it's friendly employees and helpful customers." I told her I'd be going up and down the aisles if she needed something to let me know and I'd get it for her.
She was pretty independent. I helped her take things out of those freezers with the doors that open up. How do you go from leaning on the cart to opening those big, heavy doors, grabbing your food, then balancing back to the cart.
You know it didn't take much at all to help this woman. It made us both feel good.

Well God wasn't finished with me yet. I went to the library and while checking out my books an 85 year old man was speaking so very politely to the women and thanking them so much for helping him. I was ahead of this gentleman and I held the door for him. He thanked me and made a comment about how nice that was. I told him I was impressed by the nice way he treated those ladies inside. He said it's all because of his mother. He said he really takes the time to talk to people. Instead of wishing them a good day like everyone else does, he wishes them a good life. I got a hug and a few more compliments then we parted ways.
Another act of kindness which put me on cloud nine. It's so refreshing to see people treat others like this.
My dear friend Jane came over and we stamped, ate, swam in our pool, then stamped some more.
We relaxed in the pool and came out looking like we had prune hands and feet! LOL
I tell you I was ready for a nap I was so relaxed.

I was truly blessed Saturday and knew who it all came from. Thank you God for giving me a beautiful, God-Blessed Day.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to be able to stamp soon. This going back to work teaching is really cramping by card making and doing challenge and this blog! LOL
Bless you,

A Fully Blessed Day

2011-08-21T06:16:00.033-04:00

What an incredible day! Today our Jr and Sr High students led worship. What an incredible time of worship! God was truly part of their efforts. They ran the whole worship including ushers, band etc. They had several videos showing things they've done in the last 5 years as far as activities in the church, conferences, mission trips etc. They also did a video where 5 friends talked about how they saved the life of a friend who was at the point of ending her life. It was a moving story from those girls and the girl who was saved.
Here is one of the songs they played which just speaks to me. My son, Ben also played bass in the band for the three morning services then the evening service. Take a listen.

Here's a video I saw on Dawn's blog. Check it out:

Today I did the challenge on SCS and CASED one of Korin's cards. Here's what I came up with.
Here's the card of Korin's that I CASED. You have to change at least two things.

Today was one of our Ministry Fairs. Here's the display I had for it.

Thanks for stopping by.
May God bless you.

A Mixed Bag of a Day

2011-08-20T23:19:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had one of those days where you just couldn't get yourself moving even after coffee? That's the kind of day I had. It was a slow start, and I got a few things done but just couldn't keep myself from nodding off while doing school stuff. I finally gave in and took a nap. I rarely do that. I got a few hours and it felt good when I got up.
Tim and I had a date night and went out to Avon to the Crushers Game. I caught one of the tennis balls they use for an end of the game contest. What was funny was that I was thinking that we'd never have a chance since we were no where near the dugout area they were throwing from. Little did I know that a few seconds later one zipped its way right to me. The amazing thing is I CAUGHT IT! A great two-handed catch! LOL
We also sat in our usual seats, right behind home plate in the first row. It is a fun area being that close. A praying mantis was on the netting there too. Only he was on the inside of the net facing us. We were hoping he wouldn't get whacked with a foul ball! He's that blob in the lower right area of the picture.

Here's a picture from our vantage point in the game. It was great! The umpire never cleaned off home plate and it was beginning to bother some of the fans. It was a hoot listening to them tell blue what to do. He of course ignored them. LOL Tim and I would laugh each time one of them would yell at the umpire to clean off home plate.

Here's a picture of the right field area. It's interesting that in this picture the sky looks bright blue. We sat under gray clouds all night long. I enjoy watching these kinds of games where you just have fun and it doesn't matter who wins or loses. I also enjoy time with Tim on date nights.

Check out this link, it shows what one of our Middle schools does for incoming 7th graders. It's also encouraging that a local news team was there to report it. I love good news.
Check out the words to this song by Group 1 Crew called, Let's Go.
Andale, andale

It's your boy Toby Mac
With the Group 1 Crew
What you got, bing
What you got girl? Come on

I've heard life is like a box of sweet delights
But in reality every day is a fight
So we hold on to the promise
That things happen for reasons
We may not understand it
But faith keeps us believin'

And I know that we can make it
With faith in our hearts, we can face it
Any mountain that comes our way
We can move

There's never a right time

To get up and live life
You only got one try
(Andale, andale)

So take what you've been given
And make time
To turn someone's day bright
And change how we live life
(Andale, andale)

The future's what we make it
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(One life, one world y'all)

The future's what we make it
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(One life, one world y'all)
The future's what we make it
So let's go

We in a time when sun don't shine in all places
Typically nose to the grind just to make it
Take the same old, see the same faces
Sayin' it's the hand we've been dealt so we take it

But if life's what we make it
I'm a turn the world around
Make the poor people famous
Make the B the new A list
Give your Facebook page a new face-lift

And every status you post
Will compliment who you are
The whole world's dark
While you shine like a star
Then bring hatred to an end
And watch the honor
Of our generation come alive again

There's never a right time
To get up and live life
You only got one try
(Andale, andale)

So take what you've been given
And make time
To turn someone's day bright
And change how we live life
(Andale, andale)

The future's what we make it
It's the right time
To get up and live life
You only got one try
(Andale, andale)

So take what you've been given
And make time
To turn someone's day bright
And change how we live life
(Andale, andale)

The future's what we make it, so let's go
Yeah, we got brighter days ahead
I know you got dreams, I believe in them
I know you got problems too, forget them
'Cause life's too short so let's begin

Yep, see it's all about you
You are the change the world needs to view
'Cause when we change the world changes too
And it's a small world after all

'Cause I got something that'll change the world
Moms to the dads, every boy and girl
All I wanna do is show ya how it could be
If ya open up and let your spirit free

So let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go
Let's go, let's go, let's go
Toby Mac, Group 1 Crew
There's never a right time
To get up and live life
You only got one try
(Andale, andale)

So take what you've been given
And make time
To turn someone's day bright
And change how we live life
(Andale, andale)
The future's what we make it

So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(One life, one world y'all)

The future's what we make it
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go
(To the beat y'all)
So let's go

(One life, one world y'all)
The future's what we make it
So let's go, yeah
(Andale, andale)

I like this part of the song:
So take what you've been given

And make time
To turn someone's day bright
And change how we live life
(Andale, andale)
The future's what we make it

This song shows how we can make a difference even if we're one person. We shine God's light everywhere we go and we can make a difference. What an encouragement to us isn't it?

The last few pics are from another date Tim and I had. We rode the train to Hale Farm and Village.
This is the candle making area. We learned all sorts of things about candles here. The cheapest way to make them back then was to get the fat from the animals you slaughtered in the fall, and cook it up in a vat.

Here's my sweetie.

This was very intriguing to me. They were little musrooms growing in the hole of a tree.

Here's me peeking around the corner in the carriage house.

Well, take care and thanks for stopping by. May God bless you in everything you do. He loves you very much you know.

For Very Important People.......Please View This

2011-08-18T13:34:00.029-04:00

Here is a 2 minute video that brought tears to my eyes. My dad served in WWII.
Take a look.

Here are some cards I made for the ladies to stamp tomorrow evening.
I stamped in stazon black ink on watercolor paper then used my aqua painter and watercolor crayons to color this cute stamp image. I edged in black paper then stamped happy birthday with black ink on bashful blue cardstock. I added a rectangle of Country Club scrapbook paper from SU. This is one of the cards my ladies made tonight at our stamping night.

This is another project the ladies made tonight at our card making night.

Top Note Oval Handle Bag

by Sue Craig

Base is 11” x 5”

On 11” side score at ½”,3 ¾”, 5 3/4”, and 9”

Turn to 5 ¼” side and score at 2”.

Cut out paper on the ½” line from bottom to the 2” line.

Cut from bottom on the score lines to the 2” line. (this forms the bottom flaps.)

Add adhesive to the ½” inch strip and attach it to the other end making the box.

Fold flaps in and use adhesive on last flap before folding in.

Cut out 2 top notes with designer paper.

Use scallop oval punch to punch the handle on the top note pieces.

Check to see if you need to trim the base cardstock before adding top note pieces to base.

Attach top note pieces and use the scallop oval punch to punch out the base paper showing through the handle hole.

Use the base oval and attach to a piece of computer paper or light cardstock. Stamp your greeting on this. Then punch the greeting out with the large oval punch. Peel off the light cardstock and attach greeting to the designer paper scallop oval. Attach this to box.

Push top note pieces together to fold the sides in. Tie a bow with a 12” piece of ribbon.

I was very frustrated with this stamp set because in order to make it work, every card I saw had the flowers cut out. I didn't want to do that so I cut one leaf off from the top and one off from the side of the rose plant. That left me with a straight edge on which to put my rose flower. I used wasabi ink for the leaves, then pretty in pink ink for the flowers and image to hold the text. The text is from petite pairs. I added daffodil ribbon and used a roses embossing folder.

This is another card the ladies made tonight at our stamping night. I stamped the butterfly in bashful blue then covered it with versamark and embossed with iridescent ice then cut it out. I stamped in wasabi in the white paper with the text in black. I stamped in wasabi at the bottom of the paper. The border punch was used for adding some fun to the sides of this card.

Check our Karen's tutorial for these gorgeous flowers here:

I haven't put this on a card, but couldn't wait to upload this to show you how easy it was to follow Karen's directions. Thanks Karen for your tutorial. The mambo added so much to this color combo. I am one of those that loves pretty in pink though. Your tutorial made me laugh throughout with your comments.

Thanks for looking.
Blessings to you and yours.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of Year-NOT! LOL

2011-08-16T20:11:00.000-04:00

Here's a videoI got from my friend Hope. She always loves to see this time of year roll around for her sister and I since we work together at a school. See how nice Hope is to us won't you?

Here's a song by Chris Tomlin that I couldn't get out of my head last night and today. It's called Name of Jesus. Take a listen:

Here's my card for today's color challenge on SCS. The colors were blushing bride, wisteria wonder and sand. I stamped in wisteria and added sand around the edges with a sponge. Next I stamped blushing bride paper with that same ink. I did the same with wisteria. I added versamark to each and iridescent ice to give the cut outs some sparkle. Next I added rhinestones and a pearl. I added a wisteria ribbon and bow to it.

I went to a meeting this morning with a few ladies who want to make cards and sell them to benefit Remember Nhu. They support a home in Taiwan where teen girls live and learn job skills so they can support themselves and not end up in the sex trade which is usually done because the girls are sold by their family since they are so poor. It is a great feeling to know that we're going to continue to add money which will help them by doing somethin we LOVE to do!
The only thing better than that would be to have someone pay US to stamp! LOL
Thanks for visiting. One week and I'll be back in the classroom.
I spent from 11:30 to 4 at work helping the office count items that have come in. We compare what was ordered and what was sent. Then we label it so it can be sent to the classroom that ordered it.
Blessings,

It's Getting Closer

2011-08-15T01:13:00.000-04:00

A week from tomorrow I go back to work. Yes, Hope, don't fall off your chair laughing! LOL I can just hear you now.
I am actually looking forward to it. We finally got our room situated. That means all boxes were unpacked, and put somewhere. I have about 20 boxes which need to be removed with all of our old reading series in them.
I made a card for the technique challenge today. It was a stacked card. Here's my sample.
This is the opened card. The ovals above and below the main image turn on top of the middle image by using a brad to hook them together.

This is the card closed. I like how this turned out. It took a bit of figuring out which way to put each oval so it would turn and end up right side up!

Tim and the kids came back from the weekend cabin trip. Sounds like they had lots of fun and junk food too!

Time for sleep. Lots to do tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Where Did The Weekend Go?

2011-08-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's Sunday evening already. Whew, where did the weekend go?
I spent all day Friday getting cards ready and paper cut for Card Ministry. It was one of those evenings where you are tired and don't want to go out, but have to. I heard that from several other ladies, and we all found the same thing, we enjoyed being there at church doing God's work! :-)
Here are the cards we made for Card Ministry this month.
This set is going to be in my collection long after it retires. I just love doing 2-step stamping.

This is a new set that will be coming out in the Holiday Mini Sept. 1st. I just love it. We stamped in amethyst then concord crush. I used crush ribbon at the bottom. I love the color purple for royalty and God certainly is royalty. We will need 240 Christmas cards for December at the church so we started now;200 more to go!

This is a new grandparent card we made. We used versamark and Zing gold embossing powder and glitter. It got all over the place. I put the glitter into a plastic container that I thought was air tight........let's just say I'll be finding glitter in my craft bag, craft room, clothes and floor for a long time! LOL

We added thinking of you to the front of this card. It was originally designed by my friend Jan. I'll show you her design. She has a gift for making cards. Jan did a great job of adding grass and a beautiful sky. I knew the ladies in the Card Ministry couldn't do that, so I simplified the cards. I'm so thankful that Jan did this for us.

This is another card Jan made. She enabled me to get some other cards made since I had her designs and just had to cut the paper and simplify them for beginners. Thanks Jan!

Here is Jan's third card, which we didn't make. This boat was cut out from the background she stamped, colored it and added a beautiful sky and the gorgeous reflecting sun over the water.

What a wonderful time I had stamping and talking with the different ladies that showed up Friday.

Saturday I got up early and went to Hollos for some paper and envies. I go through envies so quickly around here.

When I got home my friend Emily called and said she'd be on her way in an hour. We stamped cards for her mom's place of residence called Summit Point. It was amazing how quickly we got cards made. I had several cards cut already to be used for something else so we used them for her instead. They were almost out of all of the cards that we'd made or people donated.

After Emily left I watched a DVD and finished unpacking all of the envelopes I'd filled with stamps,ink etc for Card Ministry and talking to my sister in Columbus.

This morning I got up for 9 a.m. service, went to get printer cartridges for DH's printer, then got lunch. I was invited by Emily and her DH to see the movie The Help. What a great movie! I was going to go today and told Emily yesterday. She said she was going to go if it rained today. So we all went together. It was difficult to listen to the swearing that is in the movie, but the comedy, the lines and story are great! If you get a chance see the movie. Emily and I both read the book and felt the movie followed it pretty well.

Well, I have to go to work again tomorrow and work on my classroom. Thanks for stopping by today.

Blessings and Hugs,

Simple Woman and Lots of Chatter

2011-08-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY August 11, 2011

Outside My Window...it is dark but I can hear the crickets chiping and hear the wind softly blowing. It was a wonderful, summer day.

I am thinking...that I will be here alone for the weekend. I have some shopping in mind.

I am thankful for...the time I'll have alone. Haven't had that since I was single 18 years ago.

From the kitchen...the sound and smell of popcorn is in the air. Tim and the kids are watching movies or tv.

I am wearing...t-shirt, shorts and shoes..........worked a work and can't wear flip-flops.

I am creating...cards for card ministry and cards for Summit Point, a residential facility for adults who are independent but have someone clean their apartment and cook for them.

I am going...to Hollos and a few other places tomorrow.

I am reading...the new book by Karen Kingsbury called Learning.

I am hoping...I can get all of my cards done for Card Ministry.

I am hearing...wonderful Christian music from my computer from a Christian station in California called, Air1

Around the house...it is quiet. Annie the cat is waiting for me to go upstairs to bed. She sleeps right next to me.

One of my favorite things...is eating and hanging out on our screened in porch. Thanks Fred!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:I am going to make cards with a friend Saturday. I hope to catch up with a friend who is coming home from El Salvador after her missions trip.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... These two baby deer were waiting in the shade of the trees for their mama to return. I stopped the van and snapped their picture. A wonderful God moment for me. I just love these little glimses of his handiwork just for me to see. Thanks God.

Here is my card for the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS. You had to make a card that was HOT. Many people used a heat tool and embossed their card. I chose to use this Plant Hope set. It's new to me so I was experimenting with it tonight. I stamped in artichoke then colored the tree in different colors of brown. I used copics and a sponge to make the clouds and sea. I spritzed the background with Shimmer mist to make it sparkle like the beach and water sometimes do.

Patti and I made more progress today. We got almost all of the boxes out of the classroom and things put into a cupboard, on a shelf, in a desk or on a cart. We are taking tomorrow off and will be back at it on Monday. Thanks God for helping us again today.

Prayers were answered in that the group from El Salvador that had their passports stolen, were given temporary passports and made it to their originally scheduled flight. They should be home in the states by now. Praise you Father for seeing to their needs and once again taking what Satan intended for evil and turning it to your glory. You are so faithful and loving. Thank you.

Blessings,

Long Day-God is Faithful Always

2011-08-10T22:33:00.002-04:00

Today Patti and I worked very hard to unpack boxes in my classroom. It's actually beginning to look like a classroom. There were more empty boxes out in the hall than there were full ones in my room! Woot, woot!

Today there were so many little things that worked out while Patti and I worked together. After each one, one of us would say, Praise God, or Thank You God. What a celebration to know He is with us.
I found The Afters song, Light Up The Sky which has a line in it that says, Light, light light up the sky to show me you are with me.

Here's the video with words. Think about things that happened today that showed that God was with you. Praise Him for that. Look for things that happen tomorrow to show that He continues to be with you. It's amazing when you are aware of these things.

Here's another by Chris August called Starry Night, while we're talking about the sky. One of the lines says, He is Everything.............that's hard for me to wrap my head around. One line I CAN relate to is, 'my plank-filled eye'. This refers to a verse in the Bible that tells us to look at our own shortcomings before looking at others and judging them.

Please pray for our church team that is in El Salvador. Tim got an email tonight that someone stole the safe that the passports were in and several people are now trying to get a temporary passport to be able to come home tomorrow. My dear friend Jane is on that trip. I'm praying for her and her whole team.

I made a card for the sketch challenge today on SCS. It will go to my twin sister.

Well, I'm off to sleep and it's not even 11:00 p.m. yet. I'm beat. I'm going to go back to work to see what I can get done tomorrow. See who you can encourage today with a comment, smile, note, card, or hug. Get creative and watch their reaction. There's nothing better than seeing how you've changed someone's day by your actions.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Prayers Needed, Tears Shed, A God Who Never Leaves Us

2011-08-09T23:21:00.000-04:00

There's so much hurt in our world. It came to my life again tonight. My twin sister called and told me all that has been going on in her life. I can't believe the pain she's seen and the pain she's constantly in physically. I listened to her talk, cry, and talk again, then I prayed for each member of her family individually right there on the phone. She's in another state and it's so hard to hear how sad things are for her and not be able to do anything for her but pray. I know that praying is the best thing to do, to give it all to God. I just wish I could hug her, hold her and give her a shoulder to cry on. Instead I send cards to let her know I'm thinking of her and praying for her.
I came across this Matthew West song, Strong Enough and it says it all perfectly. I know in this video he shows the devistation of the homes of people in the tornados however, we each have our own tornados in our lives. There's nothing we can do but fall to our knees and pray to God, the one who made us. God is always there, no matter what. There's no one on earth that can say that.
Take your pain to God and lean on him. Give this song a listen and let go of your pain and heartache.

I made a card today for the color challenge on SCS. Here's what I came up with. The colors were any color green and red, then craft. I stamped using ridinghood red, daffodil and lucky limeade. I used crumb cake around the edges and on the ribbon. I spritzed it with shimmer mist.

I went to work again today with the kids and met Patti there. We worked so hard getting boxes opened and emptied. The kids set up all 6 computers and checked the laptops to see what worked and what didn't. Patti stayed a bit longer than we did and put several boxes of books on shelves.
Tomorrow Patti and I will be back at it. It's not going to get done itself. I am just doing as much as I can when I'm in there and plugging along. No stress, no worries, it will get done when it gets done. That's a pretty good attitude I think.
Thanks for visiting today. I hope you continue to visit and encourage those around you. Everyone needs encouragement whether it's a hug, a smile, kind words or a listening ear. May God richly bless you for all you do for others in your life.
Blessings,

A Tiring Day-We Went to School Today

2011-08-08T23:45:00.000-04:00

Today the kids and I went to my school to set up my room. Normally it's take things out that were put away for summer. Done in a few hours. This was NOT that. I moved upstairs to a classroom up there and found today that the furniture hadn't been put in my room. The new custodian mentioned that he didn't know there were drawings on the board for the set up of my room...............guess the other cutodian forgot to mention that.
Anyway, it's a good thing Ben was there because he helped the custodian move the heavy or awkward things. Sarah helped too with putting tables together.
Sarah and I worked to go through things that were left. We also went through a cupboard with games and got rid of things that were old.
We left about 12:30 and had the furniture set up. The custodian was going to bring the rest of the boxes for us to unpack into the room.
We had a fan going, but I sweated so much that my shirt was soaked. I will have to bring a few shirts tomorrow. I'm praying that between Patti, my assistant, Ben and and Sarah and I we'll get lots done.

I was so tired from the heat and work that after lunch I sat down to listen to a book and fell asleep. The kids said I looked so funny sleeping in the chair that they were going to take a picture. We however have a rule in our house that you cannot photograph anyone sleeping.

I made one card today to finish out the Dare To Get Dirty challenges on SCS.
Here's the card that has 4 challenges in it.

I forgot to tell you about the beautiful card Tim gave me for our anniversary. The beginning of it says:
For My Wife
On Our Anniversary-
My Beautiful Blessing From God...........

I read it all the way through and I cried as I usually do. He gets to DaySpring mushy cards that I love, but make me cry.
From now instead of being a BFF, I'm going to be a BBFG! (Beautiful Blessing From God), not just for Tim but for all of my friends and family. It's a great reminder of why we're here-to do God's will and tell those around us about Him. We need to be a reflection of his love and shine for others to see He lives in us.
Maybe you too can become a BBFG to all that are around you.
Blessings,