More birthday cards from Friends!

Alrighty, I am back again with 3 more cards to share with you, none of which I can claim any credit for...these are snippets of love from friends...the best kind~~

The first is from my friend, Joanne, (JoJot) on SCS, she knows one of my favorite color combos...and look what she does with punches...just amazing how she can align everything up and make such a dramatic entry with her cards! Thank you Joanne, and stay away from the glitter, ya hear me??

The second card is a tri-fold with Tilda on the front and the sweetest little poem on the second fold ...VikkiJo knows her folds and always makes creative cards with them! Thank you so much VJ for this sweet Tilda card!

And the third is from my new friend, Joyce (ashjoy) on SCS , and a fellow dork sister!~Can you fill the chill as you gaze at this cute lil house mouse scene...I wish I could enjoy winter as much as these cuties! Thank you, Joyce, such a fun creative card!

I am back tomorrow with as many cards as I can figure out how to successfully upload on my blog...there is a way to do it and although I am learning, I don't know that just yet. So bear with me, and hope you enjoy these!

Thanks for stopping in!

Thank you!!

I received some beautiful one of a kind works of art for my birthday, and wanted to spend this week showcaseing some of them. Some days we get so caught up in the actual making of a card, that we might forget how much sheer pleasure and joy it gives the recipient to receive it in the mail!

Thanks ladies, for your kindness! Your talent inspires me, your thoughts touch me, and your generosity overwhelms me!

This first card is from my wonderful friend, Dawn (flowergal36)...Dawn knows my love for Tilda's and sent this adorable Edwin (is Edwin a cousin, a brother, not sure??) having fun in the fishing pond! I love this, it has real fishies swimming across the page and what looks like a nautical knot on the border...Dawn even decorated the inside of this cutie. I am so blessed to have gotten to know Dawn this past year, and find out we share much in common besides our stamping interests!! Isn't this such a fun cheerful card?? Thank you, Dawn!

The house mouse in pink tulle is from my fun friend, Pat Smethers. Pat is so loving and exuberantly shares it with friends...this card touched me with the sweet image, the pink tulle, and her stitching is making me itching to try it!! I have met Pat when she came to Colorado with Shirley (wannabcre8tive) and we stamped together, drove up to the mountains with some other stamping friends...the first thing I noticed was her huge heart and loving words that she sprinkles her conversation with! No wonder Pat is a favorite person of mine!

The second card is from one of my dear dork sisters, Linda R. Linda is a new SU demo and her work just explodes with new creative ideas...I love this beauty in pink and her background border just makes it so soft and romantic! Thank you, Linda!

I will share the next 3 tomorrow, thanks so much for stopping in!!

Boquet for Featured Stamper!!

Today is Featured Stamper Day on SCS, a day where one stamper is honored by CASEing a card. I loved Karen's gallery and her style is one that I would love to aspire to. Having a love for florals and rich colors, I was drawn to a Victorian style...this used a technique called "Black Magic." The most difficult part of this for me was trying to figure out how to mat a frame so it opens to the inside and the image is actually on the inside of the card. That was my challenge to myself and I don't think I did it right, but if someone knows how to do that and can give me a picture, I'd try it again. Other than that, I love the colors and technique used today.

I think I will be referring to Karen's gallery often, I learned so much just in the short time I was there!!

Thank you for looking, and hope you have a blessed and restful Sunday!!

Stamping Sisters in Christ, C4C21

This week's Stamping Sisters in Christ challenge was taken from Joshua 24:15..."As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." We were asked to make either a card to use for a house welcome, hospitality, or a home decor item.
Well, thankfully I had received this stamp set in the mail just the other day, and it has a chair in it. In my house, I have a chintz chair just like this in my bedroom. Next to it is a basket overflowing with notebooks, cards, my Bible, studies, mailers from missionary friends...and I thought about this a bit. That chair is a pivotal part of service for me.
Actually, I have two chairs that I sit in a lot at my house. The other chair is my swivel stamping chair in my stamp room. It is pretty comfy too. The chairs represent a bit of inner struggle I go through every day when I plant myself down. Most days I am drawn more frequently to my stamping chair than to my studying/praying chair. It is easier for me and my feet just do the walking and that is where I end up,usually with the intention of making a specific card for someone.
I just recently started a new Bible Study which also means more disciplined study is necessary to complete the course and do it well. So in the past 2 weeks as I head with my morning coffee, I have had to be more deliberate which comes first...the prayer/study chair or the stamping chair. For me, service means sitting first. I can't truly know what God desires for me any day unless I spend time with him first and talk with Him. The needs can be great, one person may need a card of cheer, another friend may be undergoing an upcoming surgery, maybe my adult children need me to do something for them, my parents need me, and the list goes on and on. I can easily feel overwhelmed and a bit unsure what to do first. Spending time in my chintz chair helps me to focus on the priority of the day, and gives me so much peace as I have a definite goal in mind.
So, I am really happy to be stamping, but I don't want to sacrifice the most important thing which is time spent with the Lord to do it.
One thing I have found and this is probably not a new thing for most of you...but suddenly as I am reading my Bible there are parts of it that are just coming to life in my head. I am reading in Genesis right now and am captured in my imagination the people of the drama as it unfolds from the pages of history. I see other people in my own life being paralleled by these Old Testament heroes and the words become alive. Wow, isn't that what it is supposed to be? But God is speaking to me in a way that seems clearer than it has in a long time. So, enough of my thoughts today...there is no cohesive end, it is just me desiring to serve God through knowing God more...
and hopefully loving Him and others better than before.
Oh, and my card, oh my, I have not watercolored in so long and it shows. I forgot which ink to use, do I get my paper wet before, do I use an aqua brush and if I use my watercolor pencils, how do I blend them. So there is not a lot of adornment on this card, just practice. I still like it alot and it makes me happy. Maybe I can use it for a thinking of you or a get well card. What do you think?

After visiting a friend's blog, I decided to add this to the Crazy4Challenges blog , this week to use pink in a card!! Yay, I love pink...and this blog is way too fun to miss!

Stamp Club Projects

Last night was my first of the year Stampin Up Stamp Camp and our demo spoiled us with 4 projects~ One is not featured today, why, because I left it there~~ So that will be for a different day, but hope you find some fun and inspiration by these three!

This card was made (pictured below)with the scalloped trim corner and border punches and those cute see through Sweet Treat cups along with some of the new designer paper. A little tricky to get the hang of the corner punch but I love the effect, don't you? And those hearts all spell out a message...basically it says, "Eat me, no, do not eat me." Because the only way to eat this is to rip open this cute card, so if I give it away, I will include a box of these candy conversation hearts so the temptation isn't there!!

And the card to the right is probably my favorite, just because of it's sweetness and promise of Spring. I love this bird punch, and can see a lot of future projects with this, and decor for my stamp room. The branch was cut out from two papers, the celery and chocolate chip and then layered for a shadow effect...I'll have to remember that one~ Our demo, Carn, gave us so many fun projects to do, and what a great way to start off the year!!

This last project is a cute tin that has been altered using some designer paper and the heart from the "Movers and Shapers." The inside of the tin has 4 mini peppermint patties that were covered with 8 of the embosslit dies and one was stamped with the "friend" sentiment which if set just right in the tin, peeks out of the heart opening. I was so impressed with the ease that the Big Shot cut through this tin~~ Isn't this a cute set?

Just wanted to share a few of the cards and projects with you...hope you have a wonderful day whatever you are doing. Thanks for stopping by~

Love Love Love...Coffee Anyone??

Love is in the air...well, at least at my house, there is uaually a strong aroma of fresh coffee, and I love that!! Today, in honor of SCS Featured Stamper Sunday, I chose to CASE a card from Anne (jdmommy)'s gallery!!
One of Anne's cards gave me the start I needed, featuring cut-out hearts in the corner. I just received these cute already glittered-up hearts and the ribbon from my friend, Dawn (flowergal36) and the Coffee and Sentiment stamp set from my good friend Charlene...and haven't even found them a home yet in my stamp room. I didn't want to put them away without finding a fun card to put them on!!
So, this sentiment, "You're the Cream in my Coffee" is one of my favorites. I must have read it when I opened this package up and then put it in the back of my mind, because later I was thinking about Valentine's and my love for coffee and wouldn 't this be a great sentiment to put on a Valentine?? I mean, I thought I had just made it up, and thought I would have to try to computer-generate it just to go with a Valentine in my head?? How excited I was when I looked at the coffee set, and there it was. Must be those brain cells in decline...I wish they would manufacture a coffee that has memory capabilities as part of the coffee beans!!
Thanks for popping in, and the coffee pot is on just for you today!!

Night Song

I have a special affection for birds and when looking to bring cheer or comfort, my mind settles on bird images often.

I made this card using this week's MOJO Monday sketch...don't ask what happened to my Tuesday-Thursday...and today's SCS challenge to use a bird in your card.

This is a sympathy card for my Aunt who lost her daughter (my cousin) who was only a few years older than I. I am hoping it brings her some measure of comfort knowing that others care and our lifting her up to the Father.

I had taken the photo and was about to put this in the mail, when I looked and decided my bird needed a bit of color. Just by brushing over it with a couple of colors, he is brought to life. I also decided to move the picture background, the boquet is from my good friend, Cindy, in the background!! Isn't it a breath of fresh air??

I plan on posting some of my fun birthday cards here in a few days...our mail is so slow, so some of them are trickling in!! I had a wonderful birthday, thanks to all my stamping friends for making it that way!~ I so appreciate you!!

Sleigh Ride Dinner in Steamboat Springs

What a night to remember! For my birthday, my husband arranged a weekend surprise dinner at our favorite place to hang out, Steamboat Springs. The dinner included a gondola ride to the ski lodge located about a 1/4 of the way up the ski mountain where you were able to stop and grab a hot cup of cider...then board this "sleigh ride" to the other side of the mountain. Since I do not ski anymore, I was thrilled to see so much of the mountain lit up by the lights of the caterpillar and the stars. We bundled up and enjoyed the view. What fun!! The dinner was a full 5 course meal served indoors (thankfully, not a warmed tent) and with full wait staff!! Entertainment included a man on acoustical guitar that sang so many of my favorites, I was playing "Name that Tune" the entire meal!! I didn't get any pictures of the food, although I was tempted. Do you like food as much as I? Let's just say I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in Venice, Austria, and Switzerland, and this rivaled them all!! Yumm-o!!

Our daughter, Erin and I on the sleigh ride. The sleigh was a big red machine with platform seats going across in rows. It was pulled by a ski-cat (caterpillar) which for the 75 people or so was a lot more do-able than a few horses, I am sure!! It was so fun!! But cold, you ask...well, the 16 degree temps were made bearable with wool blankets that we wrapped around our waists and sat upon. And then my sweet husband gave us his to lay across the top of our laps. The most amazing thing, the stars at night were out and you just had to look up above the snow-capped pines and winter white aspens to see them. It was breath-taking!!

Tom and I at my birthday dinner. I had to edit this photo because my hand went berserk at the last minute and showed up right next to my chin. But I have to add this, see the lovey-dovey couples in the background? The table above my head...the couple became engaged that night. The man on the guitar sang some sentimental love song, they announced a special request, and he got down on his knees and proposed. It was so sweet to see the movements, tentative, and her reaction, which was joy. It just made me cry~~

Erin and her Dad, Tom, at the dinner at Ragnar's Restaurant at the top of the ski mountain.

Thanks for coming along to view my pictures and read of the fun night we had!! It was probably the most memorable birthday I have had. Let's just hope I can remember it...hee!!

And just so you don't worry, I am having another dinner at our favorite hamburger joint tonight with our other daughter who had to work over the weekend.

Don't you love that about birthdays? It just keeps getting celebrated in small and big ways all week long!!

All Things New

Good morning and Happy New Year to you!! This week I am combining two challenges. The CCEE blog has 2 new additions and they happen to both be friends of mine. So how could I not participate?? After a holiday break, they are back! The sketch challenge is by Cindy Haffner. Also this week, the Stamping Sisters in Christ issued a challenge based on the Bible verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!" We were asked to create a card or project celebrating a new baby or a new Christian's conversion.

I do not have any new babies in our family, but if one comes along, I will be ready now. There is something so precious about a new life and so I wanted to celebrate that today along with a New Year!!

This card was made using a new SU set I ordered, Bundle of Joy. I combined bashful blue and a Making Memories new designer paper pad, "English Garden" that contains so many pretty designs, but this one is the dotted yellow.

Thanks so much for stopping by and wishing you lots of new blessings in all forms in the New Year!!

SCS Inspiration Challenge

Today was the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers! My card was inspired by a goofy Cat clock...well, I had this house mouse image so went with that, but the colors are there!!
Here is a link to the clock:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19686290

This card is also for the Crazy4Challenges #18 Polka Dots challenge...I had fun with this one...you'll have to look and see how many polka dots I have...
Here is a link to the challenge:
http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/

Thanks for coming by my blog today, Happy Stamping as always!!