I'm learning!!!

Sunday was such a difficult day for me. We had to say good-bye to some very, very dear friends. They are moving a long ways away and they will be very missed. I just hope and pray that even though they are on the other side of the country now, that our paths will cross some day again. Their 5 boys were very close friends of our kids and it's so sad to see your own children experience the 'pain of loss.' Truly, they were one of the most thoughtful families I know.

On a bit of a happier note, I'm taking a photography class right now!!! I'm so excited!! We packed up the car early Monday morning as well and headed in the valley so I could this class and I'm learning so much. I can't wait to get home so I can upload some of the photos I've been practicing with. I don't have access to my own computer but here is a quick card that I wanted to share.
















Hope you are having a fantastic week!! We are finally feeling some heat and I am looooooving it!!!

Cosmo Cricket

If you know me very well, you would know about my huge obsession with Cosmo Cricket. It's been no secret right from the beginning that I am definitely a huge fan! I have applied to their DT every time I heard about a call. This recent one came up quick as I just heard about it. I love their paper so much, that I will put myself out there time and time again.

So, I thought I'd share a few of my recent Cosmo Cricket projects. If paper was edible, Sweet Shoppe would be the desert but Early bird would definitely be the main course. I am so captivated by these rich colors!


































And a few oldies but goodies...I have a lot of those but will just share these two. This layout below is the one that has been featured on the home page of Scrapbook Resumes.
























I also wanted to announce the winner of the RAK from this past week. Random Generator helped me out and it looks like the winner is Melita!! There were 2 double posts.) Congrats Melita!! Email me your addy.


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52
Timestamp: 2009-06-27 20:44:40 UTC

Thanks for stopping by!
Julie

3 Pubs in one day!! So excited!!

I've had two projects picked up at for the same magazine but never more than that. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to see that I had 3 happy emails in my inbox requesting projects today from Scrapbook Trends. Wahoo!! One of them was a Spellbinders project that I just finished with one of the new dies. I haven't even been able to share it yet!! Thanks for lettin' me share my fun news!

I've been playing a bit with my Copics. This is a real simple card a put together real quick last week(cuz I wanted to get in the mail...asap!) for a dear friend who spend a bit of time at the hospital. Isn't she the sweetest lil' girl nurse you ever did see??

















Here are the colors I used for it.
















Supplies: Cardstock - Bazzill, Pattern Paper - Chatterbox, Ribbon - Making Memories, Stamp - Crafty Secrets, Markers - Copic (E11, Y11, RV19, E35, BG15)

My girls have been bitten by the creative bug lately as well. Not necessarily in the ways you might think!! Yesterday, they had the entire living room set up like a library and I was 'allowed' to register for a library and pick out a few books out of the millions they had set. What a mess...too much fun though!! Yes, we've had just a few trips to the library already this summer. They've also been altering gift bags and making jewelry. And, I've got the itch to be sewin' a little project soon so, I think that'll be the next thing that 'us girls' do together.

Be inspired!

Julie

Transformers....and new Spellbinders Pendants!

Umm...okay. Wow. So, if you want to feel really old, go to a late night movie, that everyone is raving about, on the opening night, in a really, really small town. Seriously, I think 99% of the people swarming to get in were under the age of 20. Then again, we haven't gone to see a movie in a really long time so maybe that's just the way it is late at night!!

So, have you ever sat in the movie theatre at the beginning of a movie and bit your lip so hard at the beginning because you wanted desperately to ask what was going on but you don't dare?! Yup. That was me for about the first 3 minutes. Lip was bleeding but I perservered. And then I caught on, all by myself. Imagine that? My review?? Amazing graphics. Full plot. Very suspensful. Not age appropriate for my little boy. I'm so glad we preview shows before our kids see them. I'm sure there will be plenty of little boys who see it. Not mine. Kids just grow up too fast, don't they?

Speaking of transformers. Have you seen what some of the Spellbinders gals have done with the new Pendant Dies that are being revealed?? Wowzahs!! Once they have been officially released on the blog hop, we have the go ahead to share some of the ones we've created on our own. Most of my projects have been done for CHA and/or assigments and I can't share them but I wanted to put a few together real quick so you can get an idea of what the dies look like and can do.

Before I share I want to remind you that there is still a chance to sign up for the RAK that I'm giving away in the post below....here.

This first one is with the new Eyelet Pendant.


















Die cut template - S4-205 Eyelet Pendant Shapeabilities, Cardstock - Bazzill, Pattern Paper - Cosmo Cricket, Pin - Maya Road, Ribbon - May Art, Chalk Ink - Versa Magic

The second one is of the new Tulip Pendants and Tulip Borderabilities.















Die cut template - Spellbinders S4-209 Tulips Pendant Shapeabilities, S4-211 Tulips Pendant Petite Borderabilities, S4 -113 Classic Scalloped Ovals sm, Cardstock - Core-dinations, Pattern Paper - Scenic Route,Glitter - ClearSnap

The Spellbinders blog hop is still happening so be sure to check it out for some great inspiration and other newly released dies. There are also, lots of chances to win some!

And, we are still in the process of 'transforming' the church building. Here is an update.




















Arte was tearing off the cedar siding and had a piece of wood come down hard on his hand. He is at the Dr.'s office for a second time right now, finding out if he'll have to go to a specialist. He can't move it or use it all. Perfect timing, hey? Good thing we have many faithfuls who are pitching in to help out and pull this project off. Can't wait to post the finished project in the fall.

And, I absolutely cannot post without showing off these adorable toes!!

















I was watching my friend, Chloe's three children yesterday and the youngest was this three month old baby. He was such a good baby. He even slept in the girl's arms. Kelsey and Ashley were absolutely in baby heaven!

























If you made it this far down my post...you rock! And you deserve to have a fabulous day!

Oh, such a fun Father's Day!

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day! I have some very fun projects to share with you today. And don't forget to leave a comment under this post if you want a chance at winning the RAK.

The kids and I made some incredible memories with the assembly line we had going in order to make these lil' burgers. It was seriously such a hoot! I have to give all the credit to Kimberly Crawford. This is a total lift from her. I saw these adorable lil' things on her blog and I thought, 'we have to make those for your Daddy!' The instructions for the box and even the design comes right straight from Kimberly (although her design is much crisper!) These photos aren't very clear either but you get the idea.

























Supplies: Pattern Paper - Dream Street, Basic Grey; Stickers - American Crafts; Star Punch - Fiskars Ink - Versa Magic Chalk Ink


















The best part is how excited the kids were to give it to their Dad. They made a treasure hunt for him and the first clue was under the hamburgers. The rest of the clues led him to his other gift. They giggled the whole way. Such special times.
If you can't tell from the photos, it's all sweet stuff. The bun is actually Nilla waffers! You can find the recipe at Very Best Baking. That's the link to the site. The actual recipe is here.

The next fun thing that I wanted to share with you is that the Spellbinders Pendant reveal has began and the first person in the Blog Frenzy is Becca Feeken who will completely WOW you and leave you speechless when you see how gorgeous and elgegant her projects turned out! WOW!

Color Me Daisy and a RAK!

You will never believe what arrived in the mail yesterday. The most beautiful kit I've ever seen!! Now, I'm really not much of a kit girl. Mostly because I just don't purchase that much stuff at once. But this kit....**swoon**I was lucky enough to win from the GCD Studios blog. It was graciously donated by Color Me Daiy

















Isn't it fun?? I just dove into it right away and was able to make some things that I've beem planning on doing for a while now. I wanted to thank our sweet friend's Brad and Sue for something they had done for us. So, I put together this ensemble using everything from the kit.






















And yes, we've been up to baking again. That was banana bread in the gift set and it turned out pretty yummy!! The kids had fun making that as well, but you should have seen the look on Kelsey's face when she dipped her little finger into the dough (sorry Sue!) and it didn't taste quite as good as the cookie dough! LOL!

















Well, I couldn't post a yummy kit and have you be happy for me without a chance at sharing the chance to win something yourself! Although, this is not a fabulous kit, it does have some fun things in it. The polka dot paper is one of the sheets from the Collage Press Sweet Shoppe line. There is more Collage Press, Pink Paislee, Maya Road and a very shimmery cardstock from the Paper Company. This shimmery paper has become a favorite of mine! And then of course, the thickers are the same as the ones I used on my layout from a few posts back. Soon I will have an entire package of Sweet Shoppe to give away....wahoo!!

















Post here for your chance to win. This will open until next Friday night, June 26th at midnight pst.

One other thing that I wanted to mention. If you enjoy creating mini albums, you might enjoy this review on Jill's blog. Remember this book that I posted about being a contributing artist in? She has really done a great job of describing it.











Hope your weekend is blessed.

Spellbinders....the announcement you've been waiting for!!

As much as I wish I could share with you a project that I've made with these amazing new dies, I cannot!! However, what I can share is the big announcement about them:

Introducing Spellbinders’ Pendant Die Templates!
June 17th, 2009
Introducing
Spellbinders Shapeabilities Pendants
Die Templates
You’re invited to an 8 day celebration
June 22-29, 2009
on Spellbinders Designer’s Blogs
We are excited to have a new member of Spellbinders’ family of die templates and with another installment of Spellbinders’ Blog Frenzy!

Starting on June 22, each day a different Spellbinders Designer will feature one of these amazing Pendant die templates!

Blog visitors can sign up during specified times for a chance to win that day’s featured prize. Visit all the blogs and enter to be eligible to win the Grand Prize!

Too see the list of designers who will be in the blog hop, check out the Spellbinders blog here.

I will be posting what I have created after the blog hop. I can't wait to share!

For now, I'd like to share a card that I created using some of my favorite nestibilites. I also had a lot fun playing with my copic markers on this one!





















Supplies: Spellbinders: nest-001, Nestabilities Classic Ovals, S4-114 Standard Cricles Large, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles Large, Crate Paper: Lemon Grass (Lime, Citrus, Orchard, Straw, Poppy Seed,) Clear Snap: Colorbox -Chestnut Roan Chalk Ribbon; Taylored Expressions -Whimsical Wishes (Branching Out and Branching Out Coordinations Stamps)Copic: Origninal BG10 (Cool Shadow)Copic Sketch E11 (Barely Beige)Copic Sketch E35 (Chamoise)Copic Wide YG03 (green)Mint(GLMNT) Chocolate (GLCHO)
0.2 Black Multiliner

The kids and I have been really enjoying the slower days of summer. Flying kites, playing board games, and yesterday we went to the library and watched a juggler! He was a young man from Vancouver, Washington. What an amazing show. Not only was he extremely talented but hilarous too! We've even managed to have a little time for some baking. These babies didn't last too long around our house.... he he...yum!!





















Thanks for stopping by. Check back for tomorrow for a fun ensemble and a give-away!
Enjoy your day!

Father's Day Inspiration with GCD Studios!

I'm so glad that GCD Studios decided to have a Father's Day challenge on their blog. It was the perfect opportunity for me to get my card done for my sweet hubby (who truly is a classy guy) before frantically trying to whip one out on Saturday night! Can anyone relate??? Okay, anyhooo.....it was also the perfect chance to use some of their stunningly gorgeous paper calledthat I've been hoarding. I keep imagining this uber, elegant, altered item (wow...say that 10 times!)with this line. I just haven't come up with the perfect item yet. No worries, I saved some of my paper. That's the great thing about cards. You don't have to use too much!
















Die - Spellbinders: Labels Three; Cardstock - SEI; Pattern Paper - GCD Studios; Stickers - American Crafts, Kimberly Poloson, Making Memories; Trim - Making Memories

Thanks so much for stoppin' by!

Collage Press Reveal and a Give-away!

I'm so excited about these two new lines from Collage Press (Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe.) I know you will get sick and tired of me talking about how much fun they are to work with but it's so very true. They are the most fun lines of paper EVAH!! It was especially fun to have the new Die Cut Rings to work with. Check them out here!
So, I wanted to share with you my layout and let you know that today is the day that the rest of the DT shared their layouts as well. You can check them all out on the Collage Press Blog. If you leave a comment on their blog before Friday you will be entered to win some 'sweet' Collage Press products. How awesome is that?

There will be a give-away coming up later this week on my blog and some of what you see here on this layout will be included. Fun stuff!!






















The moment I layed my eyes on ‘Sweet Shoppe’ by Collage Press, I knew exactly which photos I wanted scrap with it first. It the photos I had just taken of my daughter getting ready to perform the Nutcracker. She loves ballet but when it got closer to the performance, she became very uncertain about getting up on the ‘big stage.’ I wanted to get some shots of her in the dressing room before the big debut so that she would remember those excited and nervous feelings and also how much she ended up absolutely loving it.

















Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Gutted Out

You would never believe that I went to church this morning in this building.














Don't get me wrong!! It didn't look a thing like this when we met together this morning. That's why I'm so stunned!

Today was monumental in the life of our church. It was such a fun, and exciting morning. Then it became emotional and a bit nerve-racking. You see, today was the last day that we will be meeting in our church and having a ceiling that drips. Seriously!! What I have always loved about this church since we came 4 1/2 years ago is that it doesn't matter to them that they've had to meet in a run down building. They were just there to worship and meet God. It's so awesome to see how God has blessed our church through a time of transition and provision, allowing for the purchase of the building and now...finally, the reconstruction!!! The much needed reconstruction!!

It was mentioned this morning how ironic that this building used to be a mortuary. Yup....you heard me correct. A mortuary! It was called Batemen's funeral home. But that was what God had provided for them and for 17 years before we had come this church, they rented it on Sunday mornings. Now, that is obedience. I don't know how I would have felt about meeting in a mortuary! LOL!! But seriously, it's so exciting to hear them talk about how God was able to bring new life to people and how it didn't matter to them. They were alive in Jesus and that's all that mattered! I believe that this church is now reaping what they sowed in their obedience. I believe that God is up to something bit and I don't just mean in our building. There was an energy and an annointing and an excitement in the room this morning like I've never felt before.

We will be meeting at the grade school for the summer time and so many of us feel the prompting of the Lord that 'this is the time.' We are going to take back His territory. This congergation is so hungry and on fire to reach our community for His glory and it just feels like the gate has just been opened. I feel so blessed to be apart of this great move.

You would not believe that I came home from church to feed the kids and then came back after doing a few things, four hours later and found the building striped (there are endless sermon illustrations swirling through my head!) I can't tell you how full my heart is to know how willing these people are to give up their summers and devote themselves to this project. How is it that we've been blessed with such a beautiful flock of people. You should have heard them as they shared during the service this morning, about how they have felt other's reach out to one another. About, how the love spread amongst one another is really what the church is...not a building. I could have fell to the ground in a heap of tears. I was so touched.
'Oh Lord, please poor out your blessing on this devoted congeration. Give us strength to endure the tasks ahead and wisdom to make the many decisions. Bless the church with the provision needed for it to come to pass. And mostly, may you be glorified in each service that we have and among every conversation spoken. Bind us together with cords that cannot be broken and not our will, Lord, but may your will be done.'

Okay, so I've never prayed in my blog before but my heart is full of gratitude and I often pray when I journal. Arte and I covet any of your prayers this summer as this can be such a stretching time for Pastors and for the volunteer contractor and for the many people who are giving up their summer to see it through.

It feels so strange to be Pastors of a church and not to have a building. Wow, talk about trust. God is good and He is faithful. We are amazed at how every time we hit a roadblock financially, He just dropped the amount we needed. There have been many confirmations along the way. Knowing that we are in His will is all that we need right now. He will provide the rest. The finances, the workers, the right color paint. LOL!

So, if I disappear for a bit, you will know where to find me....it's here.....