Greatest Blessings

Tonight I was flipping through the my SU catty looking for some color inspiration- and instead I found a layout inspiration that you will see on my blog for the next few days. I made a set of cards using a similar layout. Today's is another one for my stash challenge- don't forget to play! Thanks for looking! Oh, and my a muse kit should be here on Wednesday! I'll take a pic when I get home! I can't wait to play!

Recipe:
Stamp- Gina K You Are Not Alone
Paper- Black, white
Ink- black
Accessories- nestabilities, pearls, satin ribbon, dimensionals

Blessings

This is a card I made with Tami Mayberry's set Hopeful Hearts from Gina K Designs. It makes some very quick and easy cards!

Recipe-
Stamps: Hopeful Hearts- Gina K
Ink- Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Paper- Chocolate Chip, pink, vanilla, dp
Accessories- dimensionals, ribbon, nestabilities

Made a Wish

Today's card is using one of my favorite sets from Gina K Designs. I LOVE this set from Nina- Heartily Yours. This is for several challenges:

Mark's Finest Papers to use hearts on your card (mine is on my dry embossing AND my well)
The wee memories challenge to use ribbon- I am using this new ribbon that I got at Michael's- LOVE this ribbon
Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge to use something new (the button was from Christmas and the ribbon is new)
and The Sweet Stop sketch- the spin was to use dry embossing

Recipe:
Stamps- Gina K Designs- Heartily Yours
Ink- black, copic markers, cherry cobbler marker
Paper- Cherry Cobbler, pink, white
Accessories- pink twine, ribbon, nestabilities, button, embossing folder

Sparkly Christmas

Merry Christmas Tuesday! I am pre-scheduling all of my posts for the week because with fall break, traveling, and life in general I will have no extra time to do so. I made this for the MOJO sketch from last week. The image is a Gina K image (from one of Nina's sets- the name escapes me at this time and I will have to find out and edit).

Recipe:
Stamps- Gina K
Ink- black, copic markers
Paper- Riding Hood Red, Wild Wasabi, BG Eskimo Kisses, white
Accessories- pearls, rhinestones, stardust pen, ribbon, button, twine

I Love you...to the Moon and Back

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I LOVE and adore my nephew. He lives 6 hours away from me and I just don't get to see him as often as I want to. When I read Gina's blog post about fall memories and the challenge to create a project based on a memory I contemplated what I should create- do I focus on the bonfires, time with friends, corn mazes, pumpkins, or something else entirely? The one thing I kept coming back to was the birth of my nephew. He will be four in October. I remember to this day- sitting at home while we waited anxiously for a phone call from my sister or brother in law, the anxiousness of driving over from my parents' house (a four hour drive), holding him for the first time in the hospital, marveling over how tiny he was, being there when he came home and when my dad walked in as a surprise to my sister. Vivid, wonderful, amazing memories that I will cherish forever. So, what else could I do but create something based on that one cherished memory.

When I got Tami's Oh Boy set it was for the specific purpose of making things for that amazing little boy that I love so much- it's perfect for him as he is all boy so I knew immediately what set I wanted to pull out. I had so much fun making this card because as I was making it he was in my thoughts. Aren't those the best kind of cards? Enjoy and go here to this post to find out when the deadline is to participate (and to check out the other projects).

Recipe:
Stamps- GKD- Oh Boy (Tami Mayberry)
Ink- black, copic marker
Paper- Night of Navy, white
Accessories- circle punch, word window punch, dimensionals, clear stardust pen, white glaze pen, white gel pen

Cards for Kids hop

What a fabulous day!

Hello and welcome to the Lawn Fawn Hearts Cards for Kids Blog Hop! We have all come together today to make cards for a wonderful cause, Cards for Kids! We hope to encourage you to also make cards for this great cause and have fun along the way, too! So please hop along with us, and make sure to leave comments as there will be prizes for commenters and participants! So let's get going! Also, if you are lost in the hop, you can always start at the beginning at the Lawn Fawn blog. Thank you so much for hopping along with us today!

You should be coming here from SHERRI's blog

Here is a quick peek at my card



Recipe:
Stamps- All Boy (Gina K)
Ink- black, copic markers
Paper- Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Real Red, white, su dsp
Perfect boy card!

Next, you will hop along to Linda's blog

Enjoy the hop!

A Journey- Where Will it Take Me?

This is my second post for Gina's Summer Memories challenge- since I had a hard time deciding which direction to go I did two- one for childhood and one for more recent.

Life is all about a journey we are on. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I don't even pretend to understand or even try to predict where my life's journey is going to take me- I know where I HOPE it takes me but as I travel through life I know that THIS is how I feel: "Though while he lived he counted himself blessed..." Psalm 49:18a(NIV). When I was in college I went on a mission trip to Honduras and was thoroughly changed by that one experience. But then life got in the way (or should I say self got in the way) and missions was put on the back burner until 2003. I was attending (and still am) a missional minded church. One of the things they did was encourage members to go on mission trips. In 2003 I went to Athens, Greece- it was a work trip- quite different then anything I anticipated but a change happened within me. In 2005 I had the opportunity to go to Athens again- and again, it changed me and I fell in love with the wonderful people we worked with. Fast forward one year to 2006. This time I traveled to Athens by myself and "lived" there for 2 1/2 weeks. I worked with teens in an English camp and again my life was changed and blessed. In 2007 and 2008 I wanted to be back in Greece but knew that's not where God had called me. Instead I went to Timisoara, Romania which was a kid-oriented trip and God stirred something within me. The last two summers- due to various reasons I have not been and will not go on a trip. I am praying hard about next year and am anxious to see what the next step in my journey will be. My heart is in teaching and I know that through that God can use me anywhere- and for right now that's teaching the little ones I come into contact with daily but I am seeing this time as prep time- he's prepping me for something- now I just have to live my life- live the journey as I wait and see what that is! Because of these trips I have come into contact with some amazing people whom I miss dearly. This card was made for "them" and the time I spent with them just sitting and chatting (as I am not sure which one I will mail it to). Their legacy lives on in my life as I remember them daily!

Greece 2003-on Mars Hill with a friend (this is quite possibly my favorite view in the whole world!)

Greece 2005- with a friend and the son of the family we worked with (LOVE this boy!)


Greece 2006- Our last day of English camp (was a GREAT day)



Romania 2007- this little girl gave me the SWEETEST note along with some of HER prized possessions (I still have them- a little doll among a few other things) BTW- if you want to read the story of this trip (we left on Friday to arrive on Saturday and we didn't actually get there until Monday- and then turned around and left on Thursday) you can check out my archived posts in June 2007.



Romania 2008- This little girl- the smile says it all



My card- inspired by all the memories of this trip



Recipe:
Stamps- Fine Furnishings, Fine Furnishing Additions (Gina K)
Ink- black
Paper- Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Bo-Bunny dsp
Accessories, dimensionals, su punches, pearls

Thanks again for sticking through this LONG post- don't forget my birthday blog challenge- you can find that info HERE

Happy Summer Memories!

Happy Summer everyone! Of course I am in the midst of my summer break and have been doing lots of stamping so when I saw Gina's Summer Memories "challenge" I had to play along. I will actually have two posts- one tonight and one tomorrow morning because I couldn't decide which one I liked better. We'll go "old school" tonight (meaning my childhood memory) and my more recent one tomorrow (although they both involve the same "theme" yet still different).

Most of you who know me know that my dad is a pastor (and has been since 1974 when he was graduated- but for much longer in his heart). Growing up in a pastor's home is never easy- there are lots of eyes (and I mean LOTS of eyes) watching you and just waiting for you to "mess up". Thankfully I didn't have too many of those mess ups and neither did my sister. My parents (who have been married 37 years TODAY- Wednesday) worked hard on their marriage and as time went by realized just how important it was to make family a priority. Part of that was our vacation time. I honestly cannot remember a summer that we didn't take some type of family vacation- most of them were to visit family in Pennsylvania but we always took time to travel. I remember when I was about 6- we went to PA to visit my grandmother and after a couple of days we traveled on to Storybook Forest Village where we spent the day among my favorite book characters (encouraging my LOVE of reading). When I was in 5th grade we traveled to Hershey, PA and Gettysburg (quite possibly one of my FAVORITE family vacations). I LOVED anything to do with the Civil War and still love to look at the pics of that vacation because it helps me remember fun times. When I got older I began rooting for the Atlanta Braves (just because I could- and I still like them). This is when they were horrible so I am not a fairweather fan. My dad (and the rest of the fam) are Pirates fans (which is what happens when you grow up in Pittsburgh) so we would plan our vacations around the Pirates/Braves games. Our last family vacation that we took was the summer after my senior year in high school. We took a 2 week trip out west. This was in 1993- so we drove the storms that started the Mississippi flooding (tornadoes all around us). We went to Denver, up through Utah, Oregon, and into Washington where we stayed with friends. Then drove back through Idaho, the Dakotas, and then into Iowa where we went to the Field of Dreams movie site.

As you can see I have lots of fond summer memories- and the one thing that goes along with all of that traveling came from my mouth (and my sister's) A LOT (c'mon say it with me) "Are we there yet?" I decided to create a children's travel survival kit. I included a bookmark (because I read A LOT), a journal because I played the license plate game a lot or even to write notes to go back and scrapbook later, and the "tag" to explain it all. And then a pic of all three together. Thanks for sticking with me for this LONG post! I thoroughly enjoyed reliving it all!

Recipe:
Stamps- Gina K- The Journey, Oh Boy
Ink- black, copic markers
Paper- Turquoise Seas, white


Recipe:
Stamps- Gina K- Are We There Yet, Back to School
Ink- Black, copic markers
Paper- Turquoise Seas, Wild Dandelion, White, BG Urban Prairie
Accessories- SU punch, Nestabilities


Recipe:
Stamps- Back to School, Are We There Yet (gina k)
Ink- Copic markers, black, pumpkin pie marker
Paper- white, Turquoise Seas

Group shot



Don't forget my birthday challenge HERE

A Daisy for you

This card was created for last week's color challenge at StampTV of yellow, black, and white. This was a simple card that was quick and easy to put together.

Recipe:
Stamps- Flowers for Daisy; Heartily Yours
Ink- black, copic markers
Paper- white, summer sun, black
Accessories- pearls, nestabilities, punches

Quick post today- thanks for all the well wishes the other day. Turns out my neck was out AND my sinus/allergies were haywire so I had a double whammy.

BRRRR.....

I'm so stinkin' cold right now. If it's going to be this cold we need snow (I know my friends in the NE are yelling at me right now but, ummm... hello- I live in TN- last time I checked we're SUPPOSED to be in the 50s. I think we maybe hit that 2 times in February).

This card was a sketch challenge (not 100% sure which one) but was also for Nina's Gina K release challenge to use 3 or more buttons. I think this image is so good for masculine cards! Thanks for looking.

Recipe:
Stamps- Guiding Light
Ink- black, copic markers
Paper- Gina K Pure Luxury neutrals, white, unknown dp
Accessories- nesties, buttons, twine, embossing folder

Whew it's been a week!

Just been a long and crazy week. Yesterday (Wednesday) we had a shortened day due to weather (which was gone by the time they dismissed) and then on top of that some administrators were shot at school not far from where I teach. I actually knew one of them and it turns out that the shooter was a fourth grade teacher. So, like I said, a busy and crazy week! I made this card for the CAS challenge- it was an inspiration challenge

This cute giraffe was my inspiration!

Recipe:
Stamps- Zoo Animals (Gina K) Sentiment was computer generated
Paper- Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, White, Real Red
Ink- black, copic markers, soft suede
Accessories- MS heart punch, nestabilities, ribbon, dimensionals

I {heart} Chocolate

I find it a little interesting that I am scheduling this post ahead of time and it just happens to be Thursday's post. Why is that interesting? Well, today is the day- I go in for a doctor appointment to check on the size of my kidney stones: Here is the original post from last January if you don't have a clue what I am talking about! I am going in every year to check to make sure they aren't getting any bigger. One of the things I had to do to help with that was to change my diet- meaning- NO CHOCOLATE! I am/was a chocoholic so that was probably one of the hardest things for me. I have some things I can eat occasionally but then there are things that I can't eat at all (chocolate was one of those!).

Recipe
Stamps- Gina K Little Tees
Ink- black, regal rose, brown
Paper- Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Bo Bunny dp, white
Accessories- Nesties, ribbon, dimensionals

This was a StampTV sketch challenge a couple of weeks ago.

Lost my Mojo

So, it's been a while since I created anything.  In fact, since Christmas I have only created one thing (the FWF card from last week).  BUT, last night I got inspired during my organizing and found this paper.  Donna's Gina K release challenge was to create a valentine card without using red or pink.  Personally, I am not a fan of Valentine's Day- being single and all it's just often a rough time- I usually end up hanging out with some of my friends and going to a movie or having a girl's night (or I babysit).  I saw this paper and KNEW exactly what I wanted to do and it's going into my "someday" stash- just in case the right guy comes along and I have this to share.  I hope you enjoy it!  BTW- since things have calmed down a bit schedule wise I am rejoining the Sunshine Stamps team- effective the week of January 17th.  Sunshine was wonderful in giving me the time to recuperate and just get myself back together after a crazy December.  I will have a post tomorrow though for Sunshine because she is hosting the Friday Sketchers challenge (I'll have more info tomorrow on how you can participate in that).  Enough yammering- here's my card!

Recipe:

Stamps- Gina K Eclectic Summer

Ink- black, copic markers

Paper- Pumpkin Pie, white, baja breeze, dp

Accessories- punches, cuttlebug embossing folder, nesties

The inside sentiment is computer generated.  This is also for CPS148.

Gina K Customer Blog Hop #2

What a great way to showcase different ways to use the Gina K sets.  I chose Lovely Shelf as my stamp set to use.  I love this set.  I used it below in softer colors- this time I decided to pull out Melon Mambo and offset it with black to give it a brighter look.  Please make sure you go to Gina's blog to check out Mr. Linky for all of the links to creativity!  Check back often- links will be added all the way up through Monday night!

I have several pics tonight but all of them use the same recipe so I will include that at the bottom.  My aunt usually gets a set of cards from me as one of her gifts.  Normally it's a conglomeration of everything I have made but this year I decided to use Nina's Lovely Shelf set as the image and sentiment in my cards.

Whole Ensemble

Card #1

card #2

Card #3 (follows Mercy's Sketch Challenge from last week

Card #4 (one of my favorites- LOVE spotlighting the sentiments)

Card #5- uses the Sketch Challenge from StampTV for the week

Gift Bag

Recipe:

Stamps- Lovely Shelf (Gina K)

Ink- black, copic markers

Paper- Melon Mambo, white, basic black, Melon Mambo dsp

Accessories- cuttlebug, nesties, punches, gift bag

Lovely Shelf Just for You

I used Nina's brand new Lovely Shelf card to create this card for the Sweet Sketch 27 Wednesday sketch challenge.  This is also for the color challenge over at StampTV to use blue and white.  

Recipe:

Stamps- Lovely Shelf

Ink- Soft Sky, black

Paper- Soft Sky, white, soft sky dsp

Accessories- cuttlebug folder, ribbon, pearls

Gina K Customer Blog Hop

Gina K is having a customer blog hop going on right now.  I wasn't sure I was going to get a chance to participate but she extended the hop through Monday so I was able to get this created in time.  I love this new set from Rupa- Winter Friends.  I also loosely used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch (MTSC48).  I originally planned on using another sketch but it wasn't working for the image so I decided to use Mercy's instead.  Like I said, it's very loosely based on the sketch :)

Recipe:

Stamps- Winter Friends by GKD

Ink- black, copic markers

Paper- Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, white, BG Eskimo Kisses

Accessories- snowflake brad, glaze pen

Make sure to go check out all of links HERE at Gina's blog

Waving Snowman and Warm Winter Wishes

I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch challenge from 11/3/09 to create this card.  I decided to use ribbon as my strip across rather than paper and I just happened to have 3 snowflake brads.  This cute little snowman is from Sunshine Stamps and was just released this past weekend.  I planned on using my white craft ink with the sentiment but couldn't find it and since I wanted to get this post up on my blog I went with silver.  Then the whole sentiment didn't show up so I tried to "embellish" it with a Sakura Stardust pen.  

Don't forget to see THIS POST for how you can win some blog candy.  I originally planned on "closing" it last weekend but am going to hold out until this weekend.  So, get any quotes and such to me by Saturday to be considered!!!

Recipe:

Stamps- Sunshine Stamps, Gina K- Warm Winter Wishes

Ink- copic markers, silver

Paper- Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, white

Accessories- snowflake brads, punches, ribbon, stardust pen

Thanks for looking!

Thanks so Much

I created this for the StampTV sketch challenge and for the Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge to make a card to say thank you.  Loved this sketch and the image.  

Recipe:

Stamps- Gina K Signs of Autumn, Tag Lines

Ink- black, copic markers

Paper- Chocolate Chip, baja breeze, riding hood red, white, BG Mellow

Accessories- word window punches, oval punches, ribbon, pearls

Snow Day!!

Isn't my nephew just the cutest?  I created this scrapbook page based on the sketch over at StampTV.  I just adore scrapping pages of him because I can use almost anything to showcase him.  This was from his first real snow that he experienced.  It snowed hard in Columbus that January (this would be in 2008 when he was just 1) and if I recall correctly- my sister said he LOVED it!  

Recipe:

Stamps- Warm Winter Wishes- GKD

Ink- white gel pen, black

Accessories- photos, dimensionals

Paper- Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, BG Eskimo Kisses

Thanks So Much tag

I decided to go back and use the Autumn Wreath image that was the buy 2 images get this one free from the grand opening blog hop.  While you can no longer get it for free it is available for purchase at Sunshine Stamps store.  I absolutely LOVE this image- I think it's so perfect for fall and shows the fall colors perfectly!

Recipe:

Stamps- Sunshine Stamps: Autumn Wreath; Gina K- Tag Lines

Ink- copic markers, straw, black

Paper- chocolate chip, white, Recollections dp

Accessories- punch, ribbon, word window punch, dimensionals