Touching Lives

I really can’t believe it’s been nine days since I blogged! Yikes!  My lil’ fingers have been busy though!  I’ve been preparing for our ladies retreat that happened this past weekend.  I was getting these little welcome bags ready.

I’m so grateful for my sweet friend Nikki who helped me so very much with all of these!  They were fun to make but took a while. 

I was also preparing the song lists for our worship time.  It was the first time I have ever led the singing from the piano for the entire weekend.  God met us in a very special way and it was incredibly rewarding.  We had an amazing guest speaker named Peggy who flew up from California.  What a powerful testimony she has!  I know that the Lord used her to work in the hearts of every single gal who was there.  It was also fun for me to see her and spend some time bonding together. 

I’ve been reminded this week and again today of the bigger picture, asking myself what is my purpose?  I’m so very inspired by the story that the ladies from Spellbinders have shared on their blog about their trip to Haiti.  The third part to their story has been posted today and it is so touching.  It’s amazing how when you give up your own comforts to minister to others you are the one in return who ends up being touched.  It’s a win win for sure. 

As the wonderful season of Thanksgiving and Christ’s birthday is upon us, there are many opportunities to bless those around us and those less fortunate in third world countries.  Spellbinder’s has partnered up with the company Global Family Philanthropy.  Another one is Samaritan’s Purse.   They have a special outreach at Christmas time that our church is participating called Operation Christmas Child.  It’s such a great opportunity to have children go by a few essentials and fun little toys to send to someone over seas who may have never received a present in their life.  Both of these organizations have many different levels of involvement and you can check them out by reading clicking on their names above. 

Although I am always sad to see the somewhat warm weather leave us, I do love this time of year as we enter into a season of giving.  And then, just around the corner is Spring!  ; )  Just thought I’d leave you today with a Spring card that I made with one of my new favorite stamps.  A dear friend recently bought it for me and I just LOVE it!  Loving all things doilies right now!  The flower is made with the Spellbinders Blossoms Two die template.

I’m so glad you didn’t give up on me after nine days of not posting.  More to come!! 

Have a totally fab day!

Be Blessed **JustRite Blog Hop!**

Welcome to JustRite Stampers’ newest Wednesday feature, 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops 7!   Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps!  You also might see some projects from the JustRite design team, using some of their newly released line of CLING stamps!  You can find our new collection of cling stamps HERE.  This week, the designers joining us are most of the Spellbinders and Caardvarks design teams!  So mark your calendars for Wednesdays at 9am Central for great Christmas gift, card & project ideas, starting at the JustRite Inspiration blog!

I decided to use the JustRite Stamp set called Vintage Christmas 3 and for the sentiment, I used Christmas Nested Frames.  LOVE both of these sets so much!  Creating these really got me in the mood for Christmas!  This stamp fit right inside my Spellbinders S4-116  Standard Circles SM.  I colored in my ornaments with Copics YG 93 Grayish Yellow sketch marker and Buttermilk glitter pen.  I also used some Melissa Frances and Basic Grey (Oliver) pattern paper.    Some Melissa Frances chipboard, some sheet music and felt gave it an added touch.  The trim and buttons just finished off the job!

 

Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today!

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Spellbinders Blog
Debbie Olson
Kimberly Crawford
Sharon Harnist
Beth Pingry
Amy Crockett
Kellie Fortin
Latisha Yoast
Becca Feeken
Lucy Abrams
Sankari Wegman
AJ Otto
Beate Johns
Heidi Van Laar
Kazan Clark
Julie Overby
Peet Roeven
Michele Kovack
Judy Hayes
Kathy Racoosin
Stephanie Kraft
Terre Fry
Angela Barkhouse
Holly Simoni
Heidi Blankenship

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments.  They mean so very much!!

i {heart} papers Birthday Bash!!

Hello and welcome to the i {heart} papers 2^nd Birthday Bash blog hop and scavenger hunt!  You should have arrived here from Judy’s blog !!  If you're jumping into the middle (or if you're lost!) be sure to start at Kate's.  You don't want to miss a thing!

Today we’re celebrating two great years of IHP and are delighted to have some fabulous guest designers playing along with our talented design team members to bring some birthday paper-crafting inspiration your way!  Our design team and guests are revealing their creations for this month's design team challenge--to design the "Perfect Pair"--a birthday card and coordinating gift, tag or other presentation item.  

We would love if you would join us in making a Perfect Pair of your own (upload to your blog or an online gallery with the keyword IHPBB10).  Be sure to post your link on Kate’s blog so we can see your project and enter your name in our challenge prize drawings. 

In addition to today's design team challenge, we've got some fun celebrating in store for tomorrow and Thursday!  Don't worry - you won't have to hop every day!  Kate will be hosting a sketch challenge tomorrow on her blog, and Deb has another challenge for you on Thursday. Winners for each day will be randomly drawn from each day's entries, and everyone who plays along, either with the challenges and/or the scavenger hunt (more on that below) will be eligible for the grand prize drawing that will close the festivities on Friday.

Submitting your challenge projects is not the only way to win!  Tucked into the text of today's blog posts we've provided clues to an easy scavenger hunt (most have to do with our favorite products and tools or hobbies and interests we have) that we invite you to play as you hop. When you find the answer, click the link to visit the store and collect "evidence" that is listed on that particular product’s page and email your complete list, in blog hop order, to Kate when you're finished.  You can take your time and stretch the hop over the three days of our Birthday Bash celebration...it's not a race, but like any other sale, the earlier you shop, the better the selection! Deadline to submit your scavenger hunt entry is Friday morning, 3AM EST.

By participating in the scavenger hunt you'll receive an exclusive, one time use 20% off coupon code to use when you shop at i {heart} papers. (This will be emailed to you after the Bash when entries are checked.) You will also be entered for your chance to win the grand prize $50 gift certificate drawing on Friday.

ALL orders placed during the Bash (Oct 19-21) will receive a free goodie bag of surprise merchandise. The more you spend, the bigger your goodie bag!

Also, there will be random drawings for additional prizes from our PaperCraft Planet group members, our mailing list (sign up on the right side of the homepage) and our fans on Facebook.  If you are on all three, then you’ve got triple the chances to win!

 

 For my project I used:  Stamps – Mint Motif (Beyond Borders, Very Square Sentiments, Pattern Paper – Basic Grey 6x6 Kraft Pad (hint, hint) Melissa Frances; Die Template – Spellbinders S4-162 Labels Two; Pearls – KaiserCrafts, Flower – Kaiser Crafts; Trim – KaiserCrafts, Ink – Clearsnap (Colorbox)

After creating my card, I decided to make a little candle with some of the things I still had laying out. 

You will be so inspired as you hop on to the next designer.  The next blog to visit is my very talented friend Kazan!!  There's a list of all of the participating designers on Kate's blog just in case you get lost along the way!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Mint Motif card and a winner!!

Supplies:  Stamps – Mint Motif (Beyond Borders, Very Merry Sentiments available exlusively at ii{heart}papers.com); Cardstock – Papertrey Ink; Buttons – Paper Trey Ink

Happy Monday everyone!  This is going to be fun week.  The blog will be hopin’ with celebrations and hops and I am busy getting ready for our ladies retreat.  I wanted to do a quick post today just share with you another simple card I created.  Anyone decorate for Christmas in pink and brown?  It’s untraditional but I’ve seen it!  And I like it!  So, I thought I’d give it a go.  This card was inspired by Kimberly’s sneak peek that she did on her blog.  You can check it out here.  Yes!!  I actually cracked open my embossing powder.  It’s been fun trying different things. 

On to the NEWS of the day!!!  Michele!!! I hope you are reading this!  LOL  Did you see on the i{heart}paper.com blog that you are the winner of the Beyond Border stamps set??  CONGRATULATIONS!!  I was excited to see that someone from my blog won.  You are going to love these stamps.

Enjoy your day everyone.  Check back tomorrow…there’s a party goin’ on!

Mint Motif Reveal!!

Supplies:  Stamps – Mint Motif (Beyond Borders, Very Merry Sentiments available exlusively at ii{heart}papers.com); Die Template - Spellbinders™Labels Sixteen, Pattern Paper – Crate Paper (Snowy Day), Copic Markers ( R29 Lipstick Red,  YG63 Pea Green, and E35 Chamois), Tin – Maya Road

*****If you are looking for the Flourishes Hop, click here.*****

You will never run out of the perfect Christmas sentiment after all the amazing ones you’ll get in this new Mint Motif set.  Today is the October Reveal day and I’m so glad you finally get to see these stamps in their entirety.  You can find the full images on Kimberly’s blog or by clicking here.  check out all the fun borders!!!  The best part is that each set only costs $10! 

If you want to be one of the first to own either or both of these sets, they are going on sale starting today at i{heart}papers.com and if you leave a comment you will have a chance at winning a set.  Kimberly is going to be giving away TWO sets! One Beyond Borders and one Very Merry Sentiments. 

You’ll never believe what these girls have come up with.  I am so incredibly inspired by this team.  It has been an honor designing with them and I know I have grown in my ‘stamping’ because each of you!  Thanks so much!!! 

You really must see these fantastic projects! 

Charlene Austin

Geny Cassady

Latisha Yoast

Kazan Clark

Kimberly Crawford

Kate (iheartpapers.com blog)

Flourishes October Sneak Peek

If you’ve been searching for a perfect set that could give class and elegance to your Christmas gift packaging, search no more! Today, Flourishes is sneak peaking a brand new set called, A Gift for You.

I’m so excited for this day.  I’ve been drooling over these Flourishes stamps for some time now.  There are so many fun possibilities with them.   And now, it’s finally blog hop time so you can be inspired and see some cool ideas for yourself! 

Here is the card that I created. 

The stamp fits perfectly into Spellbinders™  Labels Fourteen!  The pattern paper I used beind it is Crate Paper Snow day.  After stamping my image, I colored it in using my Copic Markers ( R29 Lipstick Red,  YG63 Pea Green, and E35 Chamois) and then I used foam dots to layer it on to my card.

This set was designed not only to coordinate with some of Flourishes best-selling Christmas stamp sets but with more than a handful of Spellbinders Template Dies! A Gift For You - drawn by the ever-so-talented Marcella Hawley - offers 8 different tag styles and 8 different mini sentiments to fit inside!

Here is the exciting part!!  To make sure your tags come out with a regal style and design, this set coordinates with Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, Labels Fifteen, Labels Sixteen, as well as some of the new circular and square shaped designs like Lacey, Eyelet and Beaded Circles and Lacey or Eyelet Squares!  The customizable options are endless.

On to the goodies!

Would you like to win this set? Simply leave us a comment here on this post! Flourishes will draw a winner and announce this coming Saturday in their Winner's Circle on their blog!

Some of the Spellbinders™  team are joining in on the fun.  Check out the amazing projects they created as well as what the Flourishes design team came up with!

· Christine Okken

· Cindy Lawrence

· Danielle Kennedy

· Dawn Burnworth

· Julie Koerber

· Laura Fredrickson

· Leslie Miller

· Stacy Morgan

· Ashley Cannon Newell

· AJ Otto

· Bethy Pingry

· Deborah Young

· Gina Hanson

· Holly Simoni

· Margie Higuchi

· Judy Hayes

· Julie Overby

· Kazan Clark

· Latisha Yoast

· Mona Pendleton

CARDS September

Hi friends!  Today I have a card that quite some back.  You may have seen it in the September issue of CARDS Idea magazine which hit the shelves back in August.  This is a Gina K. Designs stamp and I absolutely love it!!!  My Grandma is going to see a lot of the stamp because she is most definitely lovely!  I have also used some Webster' Pages paper and bloomers on this card.  Tucked behind the bloomers Fleur De Lis Borderabilities die template and a Labels Eleven die template that has been trimmed down.  The image is from some a vintage book that I have that I photo copied and then printed on canvas.  Prima flourishes and KaiserCraft pearls to embellish and you are good to go! 

Some fun and exciting news is that I just got another card picked up from Northridge Media for Creates Quick & Easy Idea book!!  Wahoo!  Thanks for lettin me share!  (and guess what….it’s a card without pattern paper….shocker!)  LOL

This one is much more my comfort zone but I am still dabbling in new things!  Hope you are too!

Have a great day!

Christmas cards!!

Will you be making your own Christmas cards this year?  I’ve come to the realization that I really could make my own cards if I keep them simple.  I had some left over pieces from my previous Mint Motif card so I decided to whip up a quick one with what I had left over.  Now, most of you know that I have an extreme love for pattern paper so I decided to challenge myself to create this card with no pattern paper.  Honestly, once you see these stamps (revealed on Oct. 14th) you will realize that you don’t even need pattern paper.  This is so beyond my comfort zone but I was inspired by all the amazing cards Kimberly came up with on her blog.  

 Supplies: Stamps - Mint Motif (Beyond Borders, Very Merry Sentiments available Oct. 14th exlusively at iheartpapers.com);  Cardstock – Papertrey Ink, Bazzil; Die Template – Spellbinders Labels Four, Ink – Ranger Distress Ink, Markers – Copic (Sketch R29 Lipstick Red, Sketch YG63 Pea Green)

I’m so glad you came for a visit!  Check back on the 14th for some major release and blog hop action!!

Mint Motif Sneak Peek!

Supplies:  Stamps – Mint Motif (Beyond Borders, Very Merry Sentiments available Oct. 14th exlusively at iheartpapers.com); Pattern Paper – Crate Paper (Snowy Day), Echo Park (Merry Christmas); Die Template – Spellbinders Labels Thirteen(Trim – Maya Road Pleat Ribbon, Kaiser Craft; Twine – Karen Foster; Markers – Copics, Ink – Clearsnap (Colorbox); Cardstock – Bazzil, World Win; Pearls – KaiserCraft

Mint Motif’s new release is right around the corner and you have all kinds of peeks to check out!  See the splash of red and green under my sentiment?  That is the new Beyond Borders stamps.  There are so many fun, retro designs in this set.  I can’t wait to play a bit more with them.  I unfortunately did not get a shot in the day light and now this in door photo makes the paper look black but it’s actually a deep brown.  Hmmmm…..tomorrow might call for a retake!  LOL

I know these fellow designers have come up with some fabulous projects.  Have a peek!

Charlene Austin

Geny Cassady

Latisha Yoast

Kazan Clark

Kimberly Crawford

iheartpapers.com blog

Thank you so very much for stopping by!

Webster’s Pages Layout

Supplies:  Cardstock – Bazzill, Pattern Paper – Webster’s Pages, Bloomers – Webster’s Pages,  Silhouette – Webster’s Pages, Sparkler Button – Webster’s Pages, Die Template – Spellbinders Fancy Tags, Stickers – Pink Paislee, American Crafts

I can finally share this layout you can also find in the Scrapbook Trends September issue that hit the stands a few months back. This is such a special layout to me.  My Great Aunt and Uncle gave me this photo quite a few years ago.  It’s of my Great Grandp and Grandma who I never had the pleasure of meeting. This was on their wedding day.  Such class!  Love it!  Here is the journaling I included:

I never knew you but I’m so blessed to have this photo of you on your wedding day driving to your new farm house.  You had just left Kady, Ontario.  What a special and intimate ride you must have had!

We are off to a soggy day of soccer games and cross country meets.  I absolutely love that my kids have so much fun with their sport activities.  I must say though, today nearly felt like Christmas.  It was the first day in as long as I can remember that we were all able to sleep in a tad and have no responsibilities or activities to attend (well….Dad went to work…what a guy!  LOL) But, the kids had have a four day weekend and it’s the first day off since school started.  I think A.J. read a book nearly the entire day!  The girls and I made perfume from a kit Ashley got from her birthday and did a little baking.  What. A. GREAT. Day!!

Have a fantastic weekend my friends!

Sent With All My Love

Supplies:  Stamps – Mint Motif (Very Square, Very Square Sentiments - AVAILABLE at iiheartpapers.com) Pattern Paper – Fancy Pants (Road Show); Button – Fancy Pants (Road Show); Border Sticker – Fancy Pants (Road Show); Die templates – Spellbinders Blossoms Two; Trim – Maya Road Pleat Ribbon, Kaiser Craft; Journaling Box – Jillibean Soup; Flower Sprouts – Jillibean Soup;  Chipboard – Maya Road;  Ink – Clearsnap (Colorbox)

Hi friends!  It’s been a crazy few weeks.  Thank you so much for all the prayers for my Father-in-law.  He is in recovery now and the doctors are looking into what is the best possible treatment. 

I must say that I wanted to create a card today that I could have on hand for situations like this.  Sometimes ‘stuff’ just comes up and you want to send your love to someone just to let them you are thinking of them.  That’s one reason I love the Mint Motif very Square Sentiment set.  There are so many great sayings for some general occasions. 

Today is one of the hottest days I’ve experienced here on the Oregon Coast and I’m lovin’ every minute of it!!  It definitely does not feel like Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner but they are and I have some fun projects and blog hops to be sharing soon.  Tomorrow is the sneak peek of the new Mint Motif stamps!!!

I can’t wait to share some photos of Ashley with her new ‘look’ too!  Yup….she braved it out and got her ear’s pierced.  I can’t believe it!  Between all that has happened in these last few weeks, I find myself jumping to the computer every time I get an email in hopes to hear some very good news from a certain someone.  Waiting is so hard!  The Lord continues to teach me patience.  LOL

Blessings on your day!

Happy World Card Making Day!!

 

Supplies:  Stamps – Mint Motif (School Basics – available exlusively at iheartpapers.com); Die Template – Spellbinders Labels Sixteen, Pattern Paper – Basic Grey (Basic Kraft Pad); Ribbon – Creative Impressions, Pearls – KaiserKrafts,

Hi everyone!!  I’ve been out of town (sorry for the blog neglect!) But I’ve been anxious to share this card with you that I created with Mint Motif stamp set for World Card Making Day!  The great thing about the School Basic stamp set is that you can use it for general cards as well!  Also….I got my next new release set of Mint Motif stamps…..**swoon**……you are going to LOVE them!

Did you know that Paper Crafts Magazine is hosting a World Card Making Day blog hop? 

There is so much inspiration to go around!  If you are interested in the blog list, you can find it here.

I hope you get a chance to create something fun today.  We are off to soccer and possibly getting Ashley’s ear’s pierced….eeek!  She turned nine this week.  We’ll see how it goes!

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by!