Good Morning!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are having a terrific start to your week!

It's been busy, crazy and fun all in one for me.  I'm kicking myself right now though.   I needed some quick Thank you cards and created 4 new ones.  They turned out great.   However, this dummy forgot to take pictures and upload them.   DUH!!!!!!   Oh and of course I delivered them to their intended recipients.

On the positive side I need to do 6 more for them, so I hope at the end of this week to post some new card projects.  

So I thought I would share with you a little bit of what my week is about.   (Give you a little insight into my wonderful talent of over committing myself. :-) )

Geocaching - another one of my favorite hobbies.  You are a treasure finder of sorts.  People hide an item (referred to as a cache) and log the GPS Coordinates at geocaching.com.   Then other people download those coordinates into their GPS and go seek the cache.   It is not about finding monetary treasures.  It's about the thrill of the hunt and often the place the cache was placed.    This game is played around the world and their are a variety of events and other aspects to the game.

So this week some fellow geocachers have arrived in Vegas for their honeymoon.   They received this trip, because their family planned it and gave it to them as a wedding present.  As part of the planning the 2 sisters of the groom, new that the bride and groom liked geocaching.  So she reached out to the Geocaching community here and asked if we could help further their surprise.   So I have hidden a cache 1.5 hours out side of town for them to find.  Complete with a note and further instructions for them.  And I'm dropping off daily packages to their hotel all in the spirit of the game.   Those thank you cards I mentioned, they are for them. 

I had to complete several hours of training for one of my part time jobs so I can play video games and walmart and sell sony playstations.
My fulltime contract job which was suppose to be just 40 hours a week, is turning into 60 hours a week.
My partime contract job that was suppose to be 40 hours a month is turning into 40 hours a week. 
My daughter has a list of various items she needs assistance with.

You know what, I love it when my life gets crazy.  I get bored quickly if it isn't.

Well let me leave you with the thought for the day.   JB from Air1 radio station shared it on Facebook yesterday and this is something that I need to remember more often.  It's a Billy Gramham quote.

‎"it's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge, and it's my job to love." - Billy Graham

Have a blessed day!

This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Good Morning!

Instead of posting a card today, I've decided to leave you with a bible verse I work everyday to live by.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
( Ephesians 4:32 KJV )


I sure wish it was as easy to do as it is to type.  

Blessings!

Posting Final Challenge project

Hi Everyone!

Well thanks for understanding as I got some much needed sleep.  I had an idea for the last day's challenge but never could get it to come out the way I wanted it to.  I wanted to dry emboss with this stamp because I thought it would look so neat.   If you have or can, please do share the details.   I tried metals and vellum and just didn't get the outcome I was looking for.

On to today's project.   I'm pretty excited because I did a masking technique with the snowman.   He came out of a Rubber Stampede set.   Then in Vivid UltraMarine I stamped the Starry Night stamp.  I then took a piece of vellum with white polka dots and overlayed the image.   Clean and simple.  I think that is becoming my favorite style.

Supplies used:
Hero Arts  Starry Night - C0224
Rubber Stampede #3425 Whimsical Gift Tag Set
Stampabilities - Merry Little Christmas 02  -  #DR1139
Vivid - Ultramarine 
Versafine - Onxy Black
Paper Pizazz - Vellum Dots
Cardstock - Blue and White

I have had so much fun with this Hero Arts pairing up challenge.  I couldn't have asked for a better partner! 

If you didn't get a chance yesterday, pop by Nancy's blog and see what she created for our final challenge day.   It is truly beautiful and unexpected.   http://www.happyheart-nancyljk.blogspot.com/

Final day of pairing up challenge

Good Morning / Good Evening my friends!

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've created for our final day of the challenge.    To be honest, you won't find a card post from me today.    See I did something silly.  

I have been out of work for almost 6 months.  I accepted a new job, (no wait that isn't exactly the silly part.)   In the mean time I had applied for a few others.  Then job 1 tells me they only have about 40 hours per month for me.  (hmmmm..  still need to feed the family.)  So I got a second job offer.   I accept.  (you just think you got the idea... there's more).    Rarely overtime only when we need it for crunch time.   Ok, great.  Can't work from home, though have to go into the office.  (Ok, if I must).    Then this part time job I really wanted called me back and said we have a store for you.   And you guessed it ...  I accepted.   So I have 3 jobs right now.   Now I will admit, that alone should not have caused the delay, if I hadn't procrastinated I could have had all my cards done prior. 

I was really disappointed with the quality of work that I turned out yesterday, and I feel that Nancy and this challenge deserves everything God gave me.   So I hope to repost tomorrow with my creation.

Thanks again for stopping by.   Now don't delay if you haven't been to Nancy's yet, go see that beautiful card.

http://www.happyheart-nancyljk.blogspot.com/


Words to live by:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). 

Pairing Up Challenge Day 4

Hello wonderful friends!

I hope you are enjoying our blog hop challenge.   I know I am.   It's been exciting getting up and checking Nancy's blog to see what she posted and how different / or similar it was to what I was doing.

Well it's one of those mornings, so this post will have to be short and sweet...     (I know sometimes that is better than me rambling on. :-) )

So this is our first of two days using the starry night stamp from Hero Arts.   This really is a great stamp.   Since I hadn't inked it prior to last night I wasn't sure what to expect.   Now I can't wait to get home tonight and create with it again.   This stamp really has so much potential.   I understand now why Nancy says it's her new favorite stamp.  :-) 

Hop on over to Nancy blog and see what she has created for you!

Happy Heart Blog

Thank you for joining us on this blog hopping, pairing up journey!  We really are so appreciative of all the wonderful support and comments!

Have a blessed day!

Day 3 of Pairing Challenge

Good Morning Everyone!

Hope you are having a great week so far!

It's day 3 and this is the last day of using a non-Christmas stamp, but making a Christmas card.

Hope you had a chance to check out Nancy's beautiful creation yesterday  Click Here.   I love the way swirls look on a card!   She is a great partner, I am so lucky!

Did you ever have one of those days where you sit down to create the perfect card.  You've got it all designed in your head, you know exactly what you are doing and then you begin.....

Then it just doesn't come out the way you had it pictured.   Well that was today's card.  The concept is still the same, it's just the execution.  I think I should have chosen to work with different materials.  

Today instead of Rubber Stamps, I used digital stamps of sorts.

The Umbrella and bucket are Hero Arts Silhouette shape and so is the Sailboat.

I colored the Sailboat with glitter pens.

The Umbrella I used a red/green/white twine I picked up at Michaels.

The sand is Flower Soft - fine sand.

The stamp (saying) is from Stampabilities.

Have a no regrets day....  Live, Love and Laugh

Now, take time to blog hop over to Nancy's and let's see what beautiful card she has made today.  Click Here  

Day 2 of Pairing up challenge

Good Morning/Afternoon / Evening everyone!  

It's day two and wow did you see the beautiful card Nancy made for our 1st day on the challenge?  Awesome!   I better step up my game today. 

This card actually started out with a completely different idea in mind.   I don't know about you, but that seems to happen to me more often than not. 

Here's my take on the challenge.....

Supplies:

• Red Ribbon
• Sizzix die cut tag
• Merry Christmas (words) was in a box of stamps (small wood block)
• Hero Arts Stamp - H2047 - Square of four backgrounds.
• Red and Green Cardstock

Originally I was going to somewhat be lazy and use the backgrounds to kiss some other Christmas stamps.   My kisses just weren't coming out the way I wanted them to.  So then I looked and saw the blocks on the paper and my mind jumped to a package.   I couldn't be happier on the way this came out.

Hope you enjoyed it...    Be sure and hop over to the Happy Heart Studio and see Nancy's beautiful creation.  Click Here  

Hero Arts Flickr group Pairing Up Challenge

Hello everyone,

I can't believe that this is already the 20th of September!   I'm excited about this week, but I missed posting all last week.   Well with the start of this week, starts a new chapter in my crafting world.   Not only did I recreate my blog, I am pairing up with an exceptional lady and crafter.....   Nancy  (aka Nancyljk).  She is a hostest with the mostest over at HeroArts.   Being paired up with Nancy has been a wonderful experience.  A little nerve racking, because she is a hostest and that meant she sat the bar high with her cards.   It's ok, I enjoy a challenge.

Here is what we are doing this week.   
Monday - Wednesday we are taking a Hero Arts non-Holiday stamp and turning it into a Christmas/holiday card.
Thursday and Friday - We are using a Hero Arts stamp we both have and doing a different technique with it each day.  

Ok, I've rambled on enough...  here is my card for today.

The supplies used:

• 
  
  Hero Arts H5328 Row of houses
• 
  
  Stampscapes  180E Cracked Earth
• 
  
  The trees are from a $1 sticker pack
• 
  
  The Happy Holidays is from another $1 sticker pack
• 
  
  The Happy Holidays paper is from Paper Pizazz
• 
  
  Versa Mark Ink - Black

I took a pre-scored card base.   Then covered the front with the Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas paper.  Then on a gold piece of card stock, I stamped the row of houses, then the cracked earth.   Then I embelished it to look like Christmas.   Now you may be wondering where the falling snow is, or the snow men.   Well in Vegas, we don't see that stuff around Christmas, so I gave it more of a home feel for me.  :-)

Hope you enjoyed my first posting for this challenge.

  

Here is the link to Nancy's blog...   Hop on over and enjoy her first card for our pairing up challenge.

click here   

Rejuvination

Hello!

I have made a decision to change blog servers and start over brand new.  A Rejuvination of sorts.  Life is about rejuvinations and I enjoy life!  I was reborn as a Christian.  I decorate on a budget, which means using something old for something new.  Garage sales - repurposing other's discards.  Scrapbooking - this is taking a picture you already took and making it come to life bigger and better, hopefully recapturing the moment.   Card Making - I really enjoy challenging myself to take something and use it in a way it wasn't necessarily intended for.  I've also purposely chosen my new launch date to be 9/13/10 in rememberance of 9/11 and rebuilding.  I'm sure you can think of a few items yourself.

So what am I'm going to do with my blog?  Well I hope to inspire, teach, learn and enjoy everyone.   I love it when I receive comments I use it as a tool to grow in my craft. 

As part of my new launch I have paired up with another very inspiring special person from the HA flickr group - Nancy.  We will spend the week showing you how we both interperted the day's view point/challenge.   I'm so excited for this opportunity to work with Nancy.   I hope you enjoy visiting our blogs to see how the challenge is inspiring us both.